HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team picked up a pair of nonconference victories to close out play at the Lion Classic Saturday evening at North Oak Park.
SLU (8-1) opened the day with a 4-1 victory over Maryland (3-6). In the nightcap, the Lady Lions rolled to a 10-2 victory in six innings over Southeast Missouri (3-5). In the day's other games, Syracuse (5-3) defeated Maryland, 6-3, and Southeast Missouri, 3-0. The tournament wraps up Sunday with a 10 a.m. contest between SEMO and Maryland.
In the opener,
Lexi Johnson homered for the second time in as many games, while
Chloe Magee,
Bailey Krolczyk and
Maddie Watson drove in runs in a three-run sixth inning to help SLU break a 1-1 tie.
Cera Blanchard scattered three hits versus the Terrapins in 5.1 innings of work in a no-decision effort.
Ellie DuBois earned the win in the circle, tossing 1.2 innings of perfect relief, as Southeastern earned its second straight win over a Power 5 foe, beating the Big Ten Terrapins after topping Syracuse of the ACC, 8-6, Friday evening.
DuBois (4-0) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning of the nightcap to earn the victory over SEMO. Southeastern touched up Redhawk pitching for 15 hits.
Chloe Magee led SLU with three hits, while
Ka'Lyn Watson, Johnson,
Maddie Watson and
Colleen Kulivan had two hits each.
Maria Detillier leads the Lady Lions with three RBI, while Magee, Kulivan and
Ka'Lyn Watson each scored two runs apiece.
Southeastern will close out a four-game home stand Tuesday, hosting South Alabama at 5 p.m. at North Oak Park. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and live stats will be accessible at
www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
Game One – Southeastern 4, Maryland 1
Johnson gave Southeastern the lead in the bottom of the second inning. The Reserve, Louisiana native led off the frame, ripping a solo home run off Maryland starter Courtney Wyche (1-3) to put SLU up, 1-0.
Blanchard was dominant until Maryland finally broke through in the top of the sixth inning. Diamond Williams hit a solo home run to knot the score at 1-1. DuBois forced an inning-ending double play to keep the score deadlocked.
Southeastern answered in the bottom of the frame.
Ka'Lyn Watson drew a leadoff walk, stole second and moved to third when the throw down sailed into the outfield. Magee then hit a grounder to third that was misplayed, allowing
Ka'Lyn Watson to score. Later in the frame, RBI singles by Krolczyk and
Maddie Watson gave SLU a 4-1 advantage.
DuBois struck out the first two batters of the top of the seventh, before forcing Bailey Murphy to hit a weak ground out to first to close out the win.
Game Two – Southeastern 10, Southeast Missouri 2 (6 Innings)
Southeastern jumped on top against SEMO starter Delaney Kell (1-1) in the bottom of the second inning. An error let pinch runner
Brilee Broussard scored the game's first run, then Kulivan tripled home a pair later in the frame. Kulivan would score on a sacrifice fly by
Ka'Lyn Watson to give SLU a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Lady Lions added to their lead in the bottom of the third. Consecutive singles by Krolczyk, Johnson and
Maddie Watson extended the advantage to 5-0. Sacrifice flies by Detillier and Krolczyk in the bottom of the third fattened the cushion to 7-0.
DuBois did not give up a hit until an infield single by Brooklyn Saysoff in the top of the fifth inning. SEMO would break up the shutout bid with two runs in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 7-2.
Southeastern ended the game early in the bottom of the sixth inning. Detillier singled home the frame's first two runs, then Johnson added an RBI of her own, scoring Magee and enforcing the mercy-rule victory.
2024 Lion Classic | Feb. 16-18 | Hammond, La. | North Oak Park
Friday, Feb. 16
Game 1 - Maryland 9, Southeast Missouri 1 (6 Innings)
Game 2 – Syracuse 6, Maryland 3
Game 3 – Southeastern 8, Syracuse 6
Saturday, Feb. 17
Game 4 - Syracuse 6, Maryland 3
Game 5 - Southeastern 4, Maryland 1
Game 6 - Syracuse 3, Southeast Missouri 0
Game 7 – Southeastern 10, Southeast Missouri 2 (6 Innings)
Sunday, Feb. 18
10 a.m. – Southeast Missouri vs. Maryland
Team listed first will be home team and occupy first base dugout
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.
