STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team saw its nine-game winning streak come to end at the hands of Mississippi State, 6-5, in the opening game of the Bulldog Invitational Thursday night at Nusz Park.
Southeastern (19-3) rallied from a four-run deficit and tied the game heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. Mississippi State (17-5) scored the game-winning run in that frame on a sacrifice fly by Brylie St. Clair.
Audrey Greely led a 10-hit Lady Lion attack, finishing 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and two RBI.
Maria Detillier added two hits as well, while
Maddie Watson also drove in a run.
Cera Blanchard (9-1) took her first loss in the circle as a Lady Lion, allowing one run in 2.2 innings of relief.
Mississippi State took the lead in the bottom of the second inning off SLU starter
KK Ladner. A two-out RBI single by Nadia Barbary staked the Bulldogs to a 1-0 lead.
SLU evened the game in the fourth inning. Detillier led off the frame with a double, then scored on a
Maddie Watson RBI single to knot the score at 1-1.
The deadlock would be short-lived, as Mississippi State took advantage of three errors in a four-run frame to give MSU a 5-1 cushion.
Southeastern answered right back in the top of the fifth inning. Greely led off the inning with her fourth home run of the season. Later in the inning,
Ka'Lyn Watson scored on an error and
Cam Goodman stole home to cut the deficit to 5-4.
SLU tied it up in the top of the sixth inning. Krolczyk led off the frame with a single to extend her hitting streak to 11 games, then scored one-out later on an RBI double by
Audrey Greely to even the game at 5-5.
Jackie McKenna led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and gave way to pinch runner Kat Wallace. Wallace advanced to third on a double by Macy Graf and then scored on St. Clair's sacrifice fly. Blanchard stranded a pair of Bulldogs in scoring position to give SLU a chance.
Detillier put the tying run aboard with a single in the top of the seventh inning. However, Kenley Hawk (2-3) struck out the next two to close out the victory for the Bulldogs.
Southeastern will continue play at the Bulldog Invitational Friday. The Lady Lions face Omaha at 10 a.m. and No. 1 Oklahoma at 12:30 p.m.
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.
