HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team opens a six-game home stand this week, when it welcomes Nicholls for a three-game Southland Conference series at North Oak Park.
 
The series between the Lady Lions (37-10, 12-3 SLC) and the visiting Colonels (22-20, 9-9 SLC) opens with a 4 p.m. doubleheader Friday and continues Saturday at noon. The games will be televised live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
 
Gale's Fancy Faces will be at Friday's doubleheader to do face painting for young Lady Lion fans. Saturday is Senior Day and the Lady Lion senior class of KK Ladner and Madison Rayner will be honored in conjunction with the noon contest. Young Lion fans will have an opportunity to run the bases following Saturday's series finale and fans will have the opportunity to win prizes by playing Bingo at the Ballpark.
 
Southeastern will be looking to bounce back from losing back-to-back contests for only the third time this season. Prior to the loss in Saturday's series finale at HBU and Tuesday's defeat at UL Lafayette, SLU tied s school record with 12 straight victories and has won all five of its league series this season.
 
The Lady Lions lead the SLC with a .315 team batting average. Bailey Krolczyk, who is currently on a school-record 21-game hitting streak, leads the team with a .410 batting average and 55 hits.
 
Cam Goodman (.347), Audrey Greely (.339), Maria Detillier (.339), Lexi Johnson (.317), Maddie Leal (.316) and Ka'Lyn Watson (.300) are the other top hitters for average. Goodman has a league-high 30 stolen bases, while Detillier leads the Southland with 39 runs scored.
 
Krolczyk tops the Southeastern in slugging percentage (.724), OPS (1.134), home runs (nine), doubles (13) and RBI (43). Johnson is right behind her with eight home runs and 39 RBI, while sharing the conference lead with Rayner with four triples.
 
Southeastern's 2.58 team earned run average is good for second in the Southland. The trio of Ladner (11-1, 1.88 ERA), Cera Blanchard (14-5, 2.36 ERA, 2 saves) and Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux (8-3, 2.32 ERA, 3 saves) have handled the majority of the work in the circle for SLU with the program's career saves leader Ellie DuBois (0-0, 5.07 ERA, 2 saves) serving as the top arm out of the bullpen.
 
The Lady Lion pitchers will be facing a Nicholls lineup that has a .283 team batting average. Erin Krause leads the Colonels with a .385 batting average, while Melise Gossen (8 HR, 36 RBI) is the team's top power threat.
 
A seven-person Colonel pitching staff enters the series with a 3.13 team ERA. Audrey McNeill (9-8, 2.55 ERA) and Molly Yoo (10-8, 2.88 ERA) are the primary arms for Nicholls.
 
Following this weekend's series, SLU will close out its home schedule with a three-game Southland Conference series versus McNeese. The series opens next Tuesday with a 4 p.m. doubleheader and concludes with a 2 p.m. contest Wednesday. The series versus the Cowgirls will air on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
 
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.