YOUNGSVILLE, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team closed out the Mardi Gras Mambo Saturday, extending its win and shutout streak to five with two more victories at the Youngsville Sports Complex.
SLU (5-0) opened the day with a 5-0 win over Montana (2-1), handing the Grizzlies their first loss of the tournament.
Chloe Bennett (1-0),
Allison Brunson and
Cera Blanchard combined to hold UM to one hit in the shutout victory.
Ka'Lyn Watson,
Chloe Magee,
Maria Detillier and
Bailey Krolczyk collected two hits apiece to lead the SLU offense.
In the nightcap, Southeastern earned an 8-0 run-rule win over North Dakota (1-3).
Ellie DuBois (2-0) and
Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux combined for the shutout win.
Ka'Lyn Watson led SLU with four hits, while Magee and
Lexi Johnson contributed two hits each in the win over the Fighting Hawks.
The five consecutive shutout victories established a new single-season school record, besting the previous mark of four straight shutouts at the 2022 Mardi Gras Mambo. The five members of the SLU pitching staff combined to hold the opposition to a .121 batting average over the course of the tournament.
The Southeastern lineup helped the Lady Lions outscore opponents, 31-0, over the season's first five games, hitting .426 as a team. Magee led the team with a .750 batting average, while
Audrey Greely (.556), Krolczyk (.533),
Ka'Lyn Watson (.533) and Detillier (.429) also off to hot starts. Krolczyk, the reigning Southland Conference Player and Hitter of the Year, hit a pair of home runs to go with two triples, two doubles and nine RBI.
"This was a great weekend and we played very well in all three phases," Southeastern head coach
Rick Fremin said. "We're really pleased of how we performed this week. Offensively, we were balanced with both power and a good short game, though there's a few things we need to clean up in the running game. Our pitching staff responded well to whatever situation they faced and we're hoping to continue to shape a staff that is able to give opposing lineups multiple looks."
Southeastern will conclude its season-opening six-game road swing with a 5 p.m. contest Wednesday evening at Louisiana Tech.
Game One – Southeastern 5, Montana 0
Southeastern was unable to take advantage of a bases loaded opportunity in the first inning, but broke through in the bottom of the second inning versus Montana starter Emmalynn Brinka (1-1).
Colleen Kulivan singled home pinch runner
Brilee Broussard to stake the Lady Lions to a 1-0 advantage.
SLU tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Krolczyk led off the inning with a triple and later scored on an RBI by Johnson. Later in the inning, pinch runner
Faith Kivett scored on an RBI ground out by
Audrey Greely to put Southeastern up, 3-0.
The Lady Lions closed out the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning. Detillier executed a perfect sac bunt to score Kulivan. Later in the frame, Krolczyk doubled home
Ka'Lyn Watson to give SLU a 5-0 advantage.
Bennett was dominant in her first start as a Lady Lion, allowed just a single in the top of third and tossed five scoreless innings. Brunson and Blanchard each pitched a perfect inning to close out the win.
Game Two – Southeastern 8, North Dakota 0 (5 Innings)
For the second straight game, Southeastern loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning. However, this time SLU was able to take advantage. Krolczyk singled home the game's first two runs and a UND error led to two more Lady Lions runs and a 4-0 lead.
Detillier singled home
Ka'Lyn Watson in the bottom of the second inning to extend the lead to 5-0. DuBois cruised through the first four innings, before UND put the first two runners on in the fifth. Comeaux came in and struck out the first two batters she faced and forced Broolyn Hou to ground out to extend SLU's scoreless streak to 31 innings.
Southeastern clinched the victory in the bottom of the fifth inning. Johnson tripled to lead off the inning and scored on an RBI single by
Maddie Watson.
Sadie Hewitt singled home Kivett later in the inning, then
Ka'Lyn Watson hit a single off North Dakota reliever Emily Marr to score Greely and enforce the mercy rule.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball on X and Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook.
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.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern offers mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit
www.LionSports.net/clear.
