LAKE CHARLES, La. – In a battle of the top two teams in the Southland Conference softball standings, Southeastern Louisiana University took down McNeese, 6-1, Friday night at Cowgirl Diamond.
Southeastern (26-10, 4-0 SLC) extended its win streak to eight games with the victory. McNeese (22-15, 6-1 SLC) suffered its first league loss and had its 10-game win streak snapped.
Madison Rayner and
Bailey Krolczyk each went 3-for-4 to fuel a 12-hit SLU attack. Krolczyk hit her second home run of the season, while
Maddie Watson drove in three runs and
Madisen Blackford extended her hitting streak to 12 games with a two-run single.
Heather Zumo (13-3) struck out five in six innings of work to earn the victory in the circle for the Lady Lions.
Ellie DuBois pitched a scoreless seventh to close out the win for SLU.
The Cowgirls took the early lead in the bottom of the first against Zumo. An RBI double by Jil Poullard staked McNeese to a 1-0 lead.
Southeastern bounced back versus McNeese starter Shaelyn Sanders (6-1) in the top of the third inning. Singles by
Audrey Greely,
Aeriyl Mass and Rayner loaded the bases with one out. One out later, Watson cleared the bases with a three-run double to give SLU a 3-1 cushion.
Krolczyk extended the lead in the top of the sixth inning. The Corpus Christi, Texas native powered a solo shot over the right centerfield fence to put Southeastern ahead, 4-1.
McNeese mounted a threat against Zumo in the bottom of the sixth. Singles by Poullard and Kaylee Lopez put a pair of runners on with one out. The Lady Lion ace settled down and retired Chloe Gomez and struck out Kennedy Reynolds to keep the lead at 4-1.
After singles by
Cam Goodman, Rayner and Watson loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, Blackford singled home a pair to provide the final 6-1 margin. DuBois worked around a one-out walk in the bottom of the frame to give SLU sole possession of the Southland lead.
The series wraps up with a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday. Live video of the twin bill will be accessible at
www.McNeeseSports.com (Cowboy Insider paid subscription required).
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.
