HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team will compete in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game for the first time in program history after a roller coaster day three of the postseason Thursday at North Oak Park.
Southeastern (40-15) will face top-seeded McNeese (37-19) at noon Friday. To hoist its first-ever Southland trophy, SLU will have to defeat the Cowgirls twice.
The Lady Lions are in need of two wins due to McNeese's 7-6 comeback, extra-inning victory in the winner's bracket game Thursday afternoon. Southeastern built a 6-0 lead in the first inning, before the Cowgirls steadily chipped away before walking it off in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Southeastern bounced back in the nightcap, enduring a roughly 90-minute weather delay before cruising to a 9-1 run-rule victory over HBU.
Audrey Greely and
Aeriyl Mass both homered, while
Maddie Watson drove in a pair of runs to fuel an 11-hit Southeastern attack.
KK Ladner (8-3) went the distance for the Lady Lions, allowing seven hits and striking out six batters.
The first-ever Southland Conference Tournament championship game appearance is another milestone in a historic season for Southeastern, which has already set a single-season school record for victories. The Lady Lions have also set or matched program season standards for runs (337), hits (480), doubles (90), RBI (278) and total bases (697).
Friday's action will be televised on ESPN+.
Game One – McNeese 7, Southeastern 6
The Lady Lions could not have asked for a better start against McNeese ace and Southland Pitcher of the Year Ashley Vallejo. Mass led off the game with a double off the wall in right centerfield. Making her first appearance of the postseason,
Cam Goodman ripped a triple into the right field corner to plate Mass.
After
Madison Rayner worked a walk to put runners at the corner, Watson hit a sharp single to centerfield to score Goodman. After Vallejo hit
Madisen Blackford to load the bases, she gave way in the circle to teammate Whitney Tate (12-9).
Bailey Krolczyk greeted her with a two-run single, then
Lexi Johnson drove in another run with an RBI single of her own. Krolczyk came in to score on a wild pitch later in the inning to give SLU a commanding 6-0 lead.
McNeese got a run back in the bottom of the first against SLU ace
Heather Zumo (20-5) on an RBI double by Crislyne Moreno. The Cowgirls pulled closer thanks to a Lady Lion error in the bottom of the third inning. The unearned run allowed McNeese to pull to within four.
After stranding a pair in scoring position in the third, Southeastern had a great chance to add to its lead in the top of the fourth inning. A Mass walk and a Rayner base hit put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. Watson then hit a rocket, but it was right at Tate, who snagged the shot and doubled Mass off third to end the SLU threat.
A solo home run by Josie Willingham and a sacrifice fly by Jil Poullard cut the Southeastern lead to 6-4 after four innings.
Zumo kept SLU in front until the bottom of the seventh. A pinch hit RBI single by Adriana Ramirez and a Lady Lion error combined to score two Cowgirls to send the game to extra innings tied, 6-6.
Tate sat Southeastern down in order in the top of the eighth to set up McNeese to walk it off in the bottom of the frame. An RBI single by Moreno completed the Cowgirl comeback.
Game Two – Southeastern 9, HBU 1
Ladner deftly pitched out of trouble in the opening frames, forcing the Huskies to leave the bases loaded in each of the first two innings. She did so in the second inning after the two teams endured a one-hour, 26-minute weather delay.
Southeastern took the lead off HBU starter Lyndie Swanson (9-8) in the bottom of the second. Greely doubled home the inning's first two runs, then Mass lined a two-run home run over the right field fence to put the Lady Lions up, 4-0.
Watson drove in two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and Blackford singled her home later in the frame to put Southeastern up, 7-0.
HBU avoided the shutout by scratching across a run in the top of the fifth inning. But, Southeastern was able to end it early in the bottom of the frame. Johnson beat out an infield single, then Greely walked it off with a home run over the left centerfield fence to enforce the mercy rule.
2022 Southland Conference Softball Tournament | May 10-13 | North Oak Park | Hammond, La. (All games on ESPN+)
Tuesday, May 10
Game 1 – No. 4 Northwestern State 4, No. 5 UIW 3
Game 2 – No. 6 HBU 5, No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4 (8 Innings)
Game 3 – No. 2 Southeastern 10, No. 7 Nicholls 2 (5 Innings)
Wednesday, May 11
Game 4 – No. 1 McNeese 6, Northwestern State 5 (8 Innings)
Game 5 – Southeastern 8, HBU 5
Game 6 – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 7, Nicholls 2 (Nicholls eliminated)
Game 7 – HBU 8, UIW 4 (UIW eliminated)
Thursday, May 12
Game 8 – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, Northwestern State 3 (Northwestern State eliminated)
Game 9 – McNeese 7, Southeastern 6 (8 Innings)
Game 10 – HBU 5, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3 (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi eliminated)
Game 11 – Southeastern 9, HBU 1 (5 Innings) (HBU eliminated)
Friday, May 13
Game 12 – McNeese vs. Southeastern, 12 p.m.
Game 13 – Necessary if Southeastern wins Game 12, 30 minutes after Game 12
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.
