HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team battled to a doubleheader sweep with Southland Conference foe HCU Friday evening at North Oak Park.
Southeastern (23-7, 6-2 SLC) opened the day with a 9-1 victory to extend its win streak to five games. HCU (14-12, 1-4 SLC) answered in the nightcap, holding off a late SLU rally for a 3-2 win.
Southeastern banged out 12 hits and took advantage of six Husky errors in the opener.
Ka'Lyn Watson,
Bailey Krolczyk and
Cam Goodman each had two hits to lead the Lady Lions.
Cera Blanchard (10-1), the SLC leader in both wins and saves, went the distance in the circle for SLU, holding HCU to six hits and fanning three.
The Lady Lions could not solve HCU starter Ronni Grofman (4-5) in the nightcap. A two-run inside-the-park home run by
Colleen Kulivan pulled Southeastern within one in the bottom of the seventh, but SLU could get no closer.
The series wraps up with Saturday's noon rubber game that will be televised on ESPN+. This weekend is Military Appreciation Weekend, as all military personnel with a valid ID will receive free admission. Fans will have a chance to win prizes Saturday by playing Bingo at the Ballpark.
Game One – Southeastern 9, HCU 1 (5 Innings)
Blanchard pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the first inning and Southeastern took the lead for good versus Lyndie Swanson (4-3) in the bottom of the first inning. A pair of HCU errors led to Southeastern's first three runs, then
Audrey Greely beat out an infield single to score
Lexi Johnson to give SLU a 4-0 lead.
Goodman's speed helped the Lady Lions add to their lead in the bottom of the second inning. The Marrero, Louisiana native led off the inning with a bunt single, stole second and third and scored when the throw down to third got away from third baseman Tabitha Burnett to put SLU up, 5-0.
An RBI triple by Kaicey Hagler got HCU on the board in the top of the third, but that was as close as the Huskies would get. Southeastern broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth, as an RBI triple by Krolczyk, as well as run-scoring singles by
Maddie Watson and
Ariel Gomez fueled a four-run frame and gave SLU a 9-1 advantage.
Blanchard shook off a leadoff single by AB Garcia in the fifth, retiring the next three Huskies to close out the victory. The Metairie, Louisiana native has won her last seven decisions.
Game Two – HCU 3, Southeastern 2
HCU took the lead in the top of the first against SLU starter
Ellie DuBois (7-3). Garcia led off the game with a triple, then scored on a RBI single by Haylie Savage. DuBois walked a pair of Huskies to load the bases with one out, but MC Comeaux came in and limited the damage to keep the SLU deficit at 1-0.
Jasie Roberts hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning to double the Huskies' advantage to 2-0. Southeastern looked as it was finally set to get to Grofman in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Grofman hit Greely, gave up a single to Kulivan and walked Goodman to load the bases with no outs. Grofman recovered, however, retiring
Ka'Lyn Watson. Maddy Bailey then gunned down Greely trying to score on a Gomez fly out to end the SLU threat.
An RBI double by Hagler gave HCU a vital insurance run in the top of the seventh inning.
Lexi Johnson led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double. One out later, Kulivan lined a shot past Garcia, who was playing shallow and shaded over to left field. The speedy Kulivan raced all the way around for an inside-the-park home run to pull SLU within, 3-2.
The inside-the-park home run was SLU's first since Goodman hit one at McNeese in 2022. One out after Kulivan's shot,
Ka'Lyn Watson hit a double off the left centerfield fence to put the tying run in scoring position. Grofman recovered to strike out
Chloe Magee to end Southeastern's comeback hopes.
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.
