HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University head softball coach won the 600
th game of his career as the Lady Lions swept Friday's Southland Conference doubleheader from Texas A&M-Commerce at North Oak Park.
Southeastern (29-8, 6-2 SLC) clinched its third straight series victory with a pair of shutout wins over the visiting Lions (5-26, 1-7 SLC). SLU won the opener, 3-0, before earning an 8-0 run-rule victory in the nightcap.
The win in the opener gave Fremin, who is his eighth season at Southeastern, his 600
th win in a 20-year head coaching career. Fremin has now won 233 games in Hammond. Prior to his time in the green and gold, Fremin won 138 games from 2011-15 at Jackson State, 186 contests from 2006-10 at Belhaven and earned 44 wins at his alma mater, Belle Chasse High School.
Cera Blanchard (11-4) allowed three hits in five scoreless innings to earn the win in the opener.
Ellie DuBois threw two scoreless innings of relief to add to her Southeastern career record total with her 10
th save to close out the 3-0 win.
Lexi Johnson led SLU at the plate in game one, finishing 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Bailey Krolczyk also added an RBI in the win.
Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux (6-2) tossed a three-hit complete-game shutout in the nightcap.
Cam Goodman and Johnson had two hits and an RBI apiece, while Krolczyk led SLU with two RBI and two runs scored.
McKayla Ferguson and
Maddie Watson also drove in runs for Southeastern.
Southeastern will look to complete the series sweep Saturday at noon. The series finale will be televised on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at
www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball. Fans will have a chance to win prizes by playing Bingo at the Ballpark and kids will have an opportunity to run the bases postgame.
Game One – Southeastern 3, Texas A&M-Commerce 0
Both teams left three on base through the opening two innings before Southeastern got on the board against AMC starter Julia Sanchez (3-8) in the bottom of the third inning. Back-to-back two-out RBI doubles by Johnson and Krolczyk gave SLU a 2-0 advantage.
An error led to
Audrey Greely scoring an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth. Blanchard and DuBois made the lead stand up, as SLU's win leader pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth, then DuBois cruised through two hitless innings to close out the victory.
Game Two – Southeastern 8, Texas A&M-Commerce 0
Comeaux and AMC starter McKenna Meadors (0-6) matched zeroes until SLU struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Johnson led off the inning with a single, then Krolczyk followed with an RBI double to right centerfield to give the Lady Lions a 1-0 lead.
Texas A&M-Commerce mounted its best scoring threat in the top of the third, as a single by Kaydee Bennett, a Kasey Kuyrkendall walk and a SLU error put runners on second and third with two outs. Comeaux recovered to retire Avery Zeigler to end the inning. The visitors never threatened again against Comeaux, as the Port Allen, Louisiana native retired 10 of the final 11 batters she faced.
Southeastern added to its tally in the fourth, as Krolczyk sped all the way home from first on an RBI single by
Maddie Watson. The Lady Lions broke open the game in the fourth, as Goodman stole home, Johnson added an RBI triple and scored on a sac fly by Krolczyk, then Ferguson doubled home the inning's final run to give the Lady Lions a 6-0 cushion.
SLU ended it in the bottom of the sixth inning. Goodman tripled home
Maddie Leal for the inning's first run, then a Texas A&M-Commerce throwing error allowed the game-winning run to score.
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.
