HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team opened the 2022 season with a 6-2 victory over Southeast Missouri on the first day of Lion Classic I Friday evening at North Oak Park.
SLU pitchers
Heather Zumo (1-0),
Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux and
Ellie DuBois combined to hold the Redhawks (1-1) to four hits. The Lady Lions (1-0) took advantage of five SEMO errors to earn the win.
Maddie Watson finished 2-for-3 to pace the Southeastern lineup, while
Lexi Johnson (three) and
Lindsey Rizzo (two) each scored multiple runs.
Southeastern took a 1-0 lead versus Southeast Missouri starter Marisa Davis (0-1) in the bottom of the second inning. Johnson reached on an error to lead off the inning and moved to third on a single by
Bailey Krolczyk. Watson then beat out a slow roller along the first base line that allowed Johnson to race home to put SLU on the board.
The Lady Lions padded their lead in the bottom of the third inning. Rizzo and
Madison Rayner opened the inning with consecutive infield singles, then
Madisen Blackford reached on an error to load the bases.
Rizzo would score on a Johnson grounder, then Rayner and Johnson would come home on a throwing error by Redhawk catcher Kat Sackett to put SLU up, 4-0.
Zumo retired the first 10 batters she faced, before Jillian Anderson blooped a one-out double inside the left field line with one out in the top of the fourth. RBI singles by Sackett and Aubrie Shore cut the Southeastern lead in half, but Zumo retired Tatum Gerwitz to leave the bases loaded and protect a 4-2 Lady Lion advantage.
Two Redhawk errors allowed Rizzo and Johnson to score unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the Southeastern lead to 6-2. Comeaux threw a scoreless sixth and DuBois worked around a pair of walks to shut the door in the seventh.
Friday's action opened up with Southeast Missouri blanking Alabama A&M, 13-0, in five innings. AAMU bounced back with a 9-6 victory over Nicholls later in the day.
Southeastern will face Southeast Missouri at 3 p.m. and Alabama A&M at 5 p.m. Saturday. Saturday's action also includes Nicholls facing Alabama A&M (11 a.m.) and Southeast Missouri (1 p.m.). Live stats for all the day's games will be available at LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
2022 Lion Classic I Schedule – Feb. 11-13 – North Oak Park – Hammond, La.
Friday, February 11
Southeast Missouri 13, Alabama A&M 0
Alabama A&M 9, Nicholls 6
Southeastern 6, Southeast Missouri 2
Saturday, February 12
11 a.m. – Nicholls (home) vs. Alabama A&M
1 p.m. – Nicholls (home) vs. Southeast Missouri
3 p.m. – Southeastern vs. Southeast Missouri
5 p.m. – Southeastern vs. Alabama A&M
Sunday, February 13
11 a.m. – Southeast Missouri (home) vs. Nicholls
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
HOME RUN CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the softball program are encouraged to join the Home Run Club. Lady Lion softball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the Home Run Club and S Club (softball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern softball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events (softball, baseball, football and basketball), effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit
www.LionSports.net/clear.
