HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team opened a seven-game home stand and closed preconference play with a doubleheader sweep of Alcorn State Tuesday evening at North Oak Park.
SLU (20-10) opened the twin bill by blanking Alcorn State (11-20), 6-0. The Lady Lions shook off an early 2-0 deficit to roll to a 10-2 run-rule victory in the nightcap.
Aeriyl Mass led Southeastern at the plate Tuesday, going 4-for-6 with seven RBI over the two games. Six SLU pitchers combined to hold Alcorn State to seven hits in Tuesday's wins.
Alexis Findley (1-0) threw four shutout innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out six to earn her first collegiate victory in the opener. Findley teamed with
Leah Marshall,
KK Ladner and
Heather Zumo to hold the Lady Braves to two hits in the shutout. Mass drove in four runs and
Lindsey Rizzo scored twice in the opener.
Mass drove in three runs, while Rizzo plated two in the nightcap.
Cam Goodman was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, as she,
Audrey Greely,
Bailey Krolczyk and
Blaire Bizette each scored two runs. MC Comeaux (6-3) bounced back from a rough first inning to earn the win in the circle, striking out six in 4.1 innings of work.
Southeastern will host UIW for a three-game series at North Oak Park to open Southland Conference play. The series begins with a 4 p.m. doubleheader Friday and concludes with a noon contest Saturday. All three games will be televised on ESPN+.
SLU will celebrate Alumni Weekend with all former Lady Lions invited to attend the series versus the Cardinals. Prior to Saturday's series finale, Southeastern softball alumni in attendance will be recognized in an on-field presentation.
Game One – Southeastern 6, Alcorn State 0
SLU jumped on top against Lady Brave starter Lexi Veamoi (3-7) in the bottom of the second inning. Rizzo and Greely drew back-to-back walks and Goodman singled to load the bases. Mass then cleared the bases with a three-run single to put Southeastern ahead, 3-0.
The offense was more than enough for Findley, who took over in the circle in the second and retired all but one batter – including the final 10 - she faced over the next four innings.
Southeastern added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth. Rizzo drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Mass to advance the Lady Lion lead to 4-0. A pair of Alcorn errors allowed SLU to stretch the lead to 6-0 after five innings of play.
The Lady Lion pitching made the comfortable lead stand up. Ladner tossed a scoreless sixth, then Zumo ended it with a perfect seventh to close out the victory.
Game Two – Southeastern 10, Alcorn State 2 (5 Innings)
Alcorn State took a 2-0 lead against Comeaux in the top of the first inning, but would only hold the lead shortly. Bizette led off the bottom of the second with a walk, then scored two outs later when Greely ripped a triple into the right centerfield gap. Goodman followed with a double to tie the score, then scored the go-ahead run on an RBI single by Mass to put SLU up, 3-2.
Southeastern broke the game open in the bottom of the third.
Lexi Johnson opened the inning with a towering sole home run – her team-high sixth of the season – over the left centerfield fence. Bizette, Rizzo and Mass all drove in runs, as the Lady Lions sent 10 to the plate in a five-run frame to take an 8-2 lead.
Rizzo singled home Krolczyk in the bottom of the fourth to pad the lead.
Ellie DuBois came in and got out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth to set up Southeastern with an opportunity to end it early in the bottom of the inning.
Goodman beat out an infield single to lead off the frame, then scored when Mass doubled over the head of Alcorn left fielder Mycah Hall to put the finishing touches on the sweep.
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.
