HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team returned home and split a pair of nonconference contests on the opening day of Lion Classic II Friday evening at North Oak Park.
SLU (11-5) dropped a 5-2 decision to Buffalo (6-6) to open the day's action. The Lady Lions bounced back in the nightcap with a 10-2 run-rule victory over Marist (6-6). In the first game of the day, Marist edged BU, 2-1, in extra innings.
Aeriyl Mass,
Lindsey Rizzo and
Cam Goodman each had two hits in the loss to Buffalo, but Southeastern stranded 11 runners.
KK Ladner fanned six Bulls in 4.2 innings of relief for the Lady Lions.
Madisen Blackford hit her first home run of the season, while
Maddie Watson and
Elise Jones each scored two runs in the victory in the nightcap.
Heather Zumo (6-0) and
Ellie DuBois combined to hold the Red Foxes to two hits.
Southeastern will return to action Saturday, facing Buffalo at 1 p.m. and Marist at 3 p.m. Both games will be televised on ESPN+ and live stats for all tournament games can be accessed at
www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
Game One – Buffalo 5, Southeastern 2
The Bulls jumped out to an early lead versus Southeastern starter
Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux in the top of the first inning. Rachel Steffan tripled into the right field corner and Alexis Lucyshyn followed with a home run over the right field wall to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead.
Bailey Krolczyk reached on an error to lead off the Southeastern half of the second. One out later, she scored when Rizzo beat out an infield single to pull the Lady Lions within, 2-1.
However, Buffalo would stretch its lead to 5-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning. Jones doubled and scored on a
Sarah Diaz groundout in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Lady Lions could get no closer after stranding seven runners over the final four frames.
Game Two – Southeastern 10, Marist 2 (5 Innings)
The Lady Lions scored first in the bottom of the first against Marist starter Maddie Pleasants (1-5).
Lexi Johnson singled with two outs, then Blackford hit a line drive over the left centerfield fence. The Des Moines, Iowa native's first home run of her senior season put SLU up, 2-0.
Southeastern padded its lead in the bottom of the second.
Madison Rayner drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run, then Johnson drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. The Lady Lions also took advantage of a Marist error to jump out to an early 5-0 advantage.
Marist got on the board in the top of the third. Morgan Gianelle led off the inning with a towering home run over the left centerfield fence to cut the SLU lead to 5-1.
The Lady Lions answered with three more runs in their half of the third. Krolczyk led off the inning with her first triple as a Lady Lion and scored on an RBI single by Watson. Watson scored later in the inning on a Goodman groundout. A perfectly executed double steal by Mass and Jones gave SLU an 8-1 advantage.
Watson doubled, moved to third on a Jones single and scored on the throw down to second on a Jones steal attempt. Marist got a run back in the fifth, but in the bottom of the frame, Diaz walked, stole second and took advantage of a throwing error by the Red Foxes to score the game-winning run.
2022 Lion Classic II Schedule – March 4-6 – Hammond, La. – North Oak Park
Friday, March 4
Marist 2, Buffalo 1 (8 innings)
Buffalo 5, Southeastern 2
Southeastern 10, Marist 2 (5 Innings)
Saturday, March 5
11 a.m. – Marist vs.
Buffalo
1 p.m. –
Southeastern vs. Buffalo (ESPN+)
3 p.m. –
Southeastern vs. Marist (ESPN+)
Sunday, March 6
10 a.m. –
Southeastern vs. Marist (ESPN+)
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.
