HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University and Nicholls softball teams battled to a Southland Conference doubleheader split to open a three-game league series Friday evening at North Oak Park.
Southeastern (38-11, 13-4 SLC) rallied for a 5-4 walk-off, nine-inning victory in the nightcap. Nicholls (23-21, 10-10 SLC) took the series opener, 8-2.
Maria Detillier singled home
Colleen Kulivan in the bottom of the ninth inning to help the Lady Lions salvage a split with the win in the nightcap. Detillier and Kulivan each had two hits in the win, as Detillier led SLU with three RBI and Kulivan scored a pair of runs.
KK Ladner (12-1) struck out four and allowed two hits in 4.2 innings of shutout relief to earn her 11
th straight victory for SLU.
In the opener, Nicholls never trailed on the way to the victory.
Cam Goodman, Maddiw Watson,
Lexi Johnson and
Madison Rayner each had two hits for SLU, who finished with a 10-8 hit advantage but left nine on base.
Bailey Krolczyk, who failed to get a hit in the nightcap, extended her school-record hitting streak to 22 games with a double in the loss.
Cera Blanchard (14-6) took the loss in the circle for SLU.
Ellie DuBois was effective out of the bullpen, throwing three innings of no-hit relief for the Lady Lions.
The rubber game of the series is set for noon Saturday. Prior to first pitch, SLU will honor Ladner and Rayner in a Senior Day ceremony. Saturday's game will be televised live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at
www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
Game One – Nicholls 8, Southeastern 2
Nicholls jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. A two-run home run by Alexa Poche' staked the Colonels to the early advantage.
Southeastern cut into the lead versus Nicholls starter Audrey McNeill (10-8) in the bottom of the second inning. Rayner ripped a double into the left centerfield gap with one out, then scored on an infield single by
Ka'Lyn Watson to pull SLU within, 2-1.
Nicholls answered with three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to extend the lead to 8-1.
Southeastern added to its tally in the bottom of the sixth inning. Johnson led off the inning with a double off the centerfield fence and scored later in the frame on an infield single by Rayner to cut the lead to 8-2.
SLU would get no closer. Krolczyk doubled into the left field corner, then
Maddie Watson singled to put a pair on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Nicholls reliever Molly VandenBout retired Johnson to close out the win.
Game Two – Southeastern 5, Nicholls 4 (9 Innings)
Nicholls took a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning. Kulivan led off the frame with a single, then
Ka'Lyn Watson reached due to an illegal substitution by Nicholls and Goodman walked to load the bases. A sharp single up the middle by Detillier plated Kulivan and Watson. Later in the inning, Goodman scored on an RBI groundout by
Maddie Watson to knot the score.
Southeastern took its first lead of the day in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Ka'Lyn Watson beat out a bunt single, then Goodman lined a triple into the left centerfield gap to put the Lady Lions on top, 4-3.
Nicholls would tie it up in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI double by Erin Krause. From that point forward, Ladner and Nicholls starter Molly Yoo (10-9) matched zeroes until SLU won it in the ninth inning.
Kulivan led off the final frame with a hard-hit single through the left side of the infield. After
Ka'Lyn Watson sacrificed her into scoring position. Four pitches later, Detillier hit a shot up the middle that deflected off the glove of a diving Krause and allowed the speedy Kulivan to race home for the game-winning 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.
