HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team will close out its regular season road schedule with a three-game Southland Conference series at league foe Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
The series between the Lady Lions (33-12, 10-2 SLC) and the host Islanders (19-23, 7-5 SLC) opens with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday and closes Saturday at 12 p.m. Friday's games will be televised on ESPN+, while Saturday's contest can be viewed on the Islander Digital Network.
 
Southeastern enters the first of the final two league weekends on a seven-game win streak and tied atop the Southland Conference standings, though co-leader McNeese holds the tiebreaker over the Lady Lions.
 
Last week, five SLU pitchers combined for the 10^th no-hitter in program history in Southeastern's 13-0 win at Southern in the non-conference finale. Over the weekend, the Lady Lions swept a three-game league series over HBU at North Oak Park. Freshman Maddie Watson was named Southland Conference Hitter of the Week Monday after finishing with a .545 batting average, two home runs and 12 RBI.
 
Southeastern heads to Corpus Christi armed with the league's top team batting average of .334. Cam Goodman (.455, 2^nd), Aeriyl Mass (.420, 4^th), Madison Rayner (.341, 9^th) and Watson (.331, 10^th) all represent SLU among the top 10 hitters for average in the Southland.
 
Mass also paces the conference with 60 hits, 36 runs scored and 28 stolen bases. Watson (41) and Rayner (40) occupy the top two spots on the SLC RBI leaderboard, while Lexi Johnson has a team-high seven home runs and Rayner shares the league lead with 15 doubles.
 
Southeastern enters the series with a 2.66 team earned run average and have held opponents to a .226 batting average. The Southland Conference leader in wins, Heather Zumo (16-3, 2.20 ERA), leads a staff that has had key contributions from KK Ladner (6-2, 3.07 ERA, 1 save), Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux (9-3, 3.78 ERA, 1 save), Alyssa Romano (0-2, 1.84 ERA, 1 save), Ellie DuBois (0-1, 3.10 ERA, 1 save), Alexis Findley (2-1, 1.56 ERA) and Leah Marshall (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
 
The Islanders carry a .242 team batting average into the series. Pal Egan leads Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in virtually every category, hitting .435 with 35 runs, 54 hits, 15 doubles, eight home runs, 27 RBI and 25 stolen bases.
 
Like Southeastern, AMCC has used seven different arms in the circle this season with its staff combining for a 4.18 team ERA. Grace Gilbert (6-8, 3.67 ERA, 1 save) is the team leader in wins and innings pitched and has been named the Southland Pitcher of the Week each of the past two weeks.
 
Following this weekend's action, Southeastern will close out the regular season at home, hosting Northwestern State for a three-game SLC set at North Oak Park with the Cypress Trophy on the line.
 
The series opens with a 4 p.m. doubleheader May 6 and concludes May 7 at 12 p.m. Prior to the regular season finale, the senior class of Mass, Zumo and Madisen Blackford will be recognized for Senior Day. The May 6 doubleheader will be televised on 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.