LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team split a pair of nonconference contests at the Troy Cox Invitational Saturday at the NM State Softball Complex.
Southeastern (6-1) saw its undefeated start to the season end in the opening game of the day, falling to UT Arlington, 5-1. SLU bounced back in the nightcap with a 6-0 shutout victory over Northern Colorado.
In the win over the Bears,
Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux (3-0) and
Heather Zumo combined for their second tandem shutout in as many days, holding the Bears to seven hits and striking out six.
Lindsey Rizzo led SLU at the plate versus UNC with a 3-for-3 showing and three runs scored.
Madisen Blackford drove in a pair of runs, while
Aeriyl Mass,
Madison Rayner,
Audrey Greely and
Sadie Hewitt all added RBI.
Rayner drove in Southeastern's lone run, while Mass and
Bailey Krolczyk both collected two hits in the loss to Lady Mavs.
Ellie DuBois (0-1) took the loss in the circle for SLU.
The Lady Lions will close out tournament play with a 10 a.m. Sunday contest versus Nebraska.
Game One – UT Arlington 5, Southeastern 1
SLU struck right away in the top of the first inning off UTA starter Jessica Adams (2-3). Mass led off the game with an infield single, moved to second on a Rizzo sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI single by Rayner to jump up 1-0.
The Lady Mavs wasted no time answering. KJ Murphy led off the bottom of the first with a home run over the left field fence to knot the score at 1-1.
Southeastern was poised to retake the lead in its half of the second. A Krolcyzk single, a Greely walk and a base hit by Mass loaded the bases with two outs. But Adams recovered to retire Rizzo to leave the bases packed and the score tied.
UT Arlington took the lead for good in the bottom of the second inning. DuBois allowed consecutive walks with one out and was chased from the game. Aaliyah White greeted SLU reliever
KK Ladner with a two-run double. The Lady Mavs increased their advantage to 5-1 in the bottom of the third on a two-run home run by Reagan Hukill.
Adams retired 10 straight Lady Lions before Southeastern mounted one last threat in the top of the seventh inning. Adams hit Greely and
Cam Goodman singled to put a pair of runners on with no outs. However, Adams battled back to retire Mass,
Elise Jones and
Sarah Diaz to close out the victory.
Game Two – Southeastern 6, Northern Colorado 0
SLU mustered all the offense it would need in the bottom of the first inning. Rayner reached on a one-out single, moved to second on a wild pitch and was singled home by
Madisen Blackford to give the Lady Lions the early advantage.
Southeastern doubled its lead in the bottom of the second inning. Greely doubled home Rizzo to put SLU ahead, 2-0.
Northern Colorado chased Zumo from the game in the top of the fourth inning and eventually loaded the bases against Comeaux. Comeaux induced a double play to get out the inning and keep the Bears off the board.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Rayner drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run, then Blackford singled home a run to stretch the Southeastern lead to 4-0. Hewitt drew a bases loaded walk of her own in the bottom of the fifth and another run came in on a Mass ground out to close out the scoring.
Comeaux gave up two-out singles in each of the final three innings, but was threatened no further to pick up her second win of the tournament.
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.
