HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team opened its final Southland Conference series of 2022 with a doubleheader sweep of Northwestern State Friday evening at North Oak Park.
With the wins, SLU (36-14, 13-4 SLC) has secured the No. 2 seed in next week's Southland Conference Tournament, set for May 10-13 in Hammond.
The Lady Lions also claimed the Cypress Trophy from NSU (28-19, 10-7 SLC) for the first time since the rivalry trophy was established in 2019. The Cypress Trophy will be presented to Southeastern following Saturday's noon series finale.
The sweep also resulted in a milestone for seventh-year Lady Lion head coach
Rick Fremin. The victories give Fremin 200 career wins at the helm of the Southeastern program.
SLU opened the day with a 7-3 victory over the Lady Demons.
Bailey Krolczyk led the Lady Lions with two hits, while
Audrey Greely scored a game-high three runs.
Heather Zumo (17-4) allowed three hits in four shutout innings to earn the win in the circle.
Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux allowed two hits and struck out six in a complete-game shutout performance in an 8-0 victory in the nightcap. SLU scored in every inning on the way to the mercy-rule victory.
Madison Rayner hit her fifth home run of the season, as she and
Madisen Blackford shared team-high honors with two hits each.
The series wraps up tomorrow at noon. Prior to the game, Southeastern will honor Zumo, Blackford and
Aeriyl Mass in a special Senior Day ceremony.
Game One – Southeastern 7, Northwestern State 3
SLU took the lead versus NSU ace Sage Hoover (10-6) in the bottom of the second inning. Blackford led off the inning with a double, advanced to third on a Krolczyk single and scored on a passed ball.
Lexi Johnson followed with an RBI single to plate Krolczyk. Later in the frame, Rayner drew a bases loaded walk to force in another run and put SLU up, 3-0.
The Lady Lions added to their advantage in the bottom of the fourth inning. Greely walked,
Sarah Diaz was hit by a pitch, then Rayner and
Maddie Watson drew back-to-back walks to give Southeastern a 4-0 cushion.
An RBI single by Laney Roos put the Lady Demons on the board in the top of the fifth inning. Southeastern answered with two runs in its half of the fifth. Greely doubled home the inning's first run and then scored on an RBI single by Mass to put Southeastern up, 6-1.
Back-to-back run-scoring doubles by Kat Marshall and Tristin Court cut the lead to 6-3 and chased reliever
KK Ladner from the game.
Ellie DuBois struck out Maggie Black to end the NSU rally.
Krolczyk singled home a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to provide the final margin. A great play by
Elise Jones led to the game-ending double play and closed out DuBois' second save of the season and school record-tying eighth save of her career.
Game Two – Southeastern 8, Northwestern 0 (5 Innings)
Southeastern took the lead versus NSU starter Bronte Rhoden (6-4) in the bottom of the first inning. Mass drew a leadoff walk and scored on an RBI single by Rayner to stake the Lady Lions to a 1-0 lead.
Johnson doubled home a run and scored on an RBI single by Mass in the bottom of the second inning. Later in the frame,
Lindsey Rizzo executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to score Greely and give SLU a 4-0 cushion.
Blackford singled, stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch to put Southeastern ahead, 5-0, after three innings. In the fourth, Rizzo intentionally got caught in a run down to allow Greely to score and give SLU a 6-0 advantage.
Comeaux allowed a two-out single in the top of the first, then retired 12 straight Lady Demons before Marshall singled just out of the reach of a diving Johnson with two outs in the fifth. Comeaux struck out Court to preserve the shutout.
Southeastern walked it off in the bottom of the fifth inning. Rayner led off the frame by lining a solo home run over the left field fence. The Lady Lions took advantage of an NSU error to score the game-clinching run.
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.
