SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team improved to 4-0 on its West Coast trip with a pair of nonconference victories Thursday.
Southeastern (28-7) opened the day with a 5-3 win over Pacific, completing a three-game series sweep of the Tigers (10-25). In the nightcap, the Lady Lions rolled to a 10-2 road win at Santa Clara (20-13).
Chloe Magee and
Maria Detillier led SLU with two hits in the win over Pacific.
Ka'Lyn Watson added a solo home run, while
Bailey Krolczyk led the Lady Lions with a pair or RBI.
Allison Brunson (3-0) earned the victory, allowing five hits and no earned runs in five innings of work. After Pacific cut the lead to 5-3 in the final inning,
Mary-Cathryn (MC) Comeaux recorded the final two outs to earn her first save of the season.
Southeastern finished with a season-high 18 hits in the win over Santa Clara. Detillier and
Lexi Johnson led SLU with three hits apiece, while
Maddie Watson and Ka'Lym Watson each drove in a pair of runs.
Ellie DuBois (9-3) allowed three hits in five innings of work to earn the win in the circle over the Broncos.
Cera Blanchard tossed two scoreless innings of relief to secure the Lady Lions' fifth consecutive victory.
Southeastern will close out its California trip with a 1 p.m. (CDT) contest at Santa Clara Friday. The contest will be televised on ESPN+.
Game One – Southeastern 5, Pacific 3
SLU took the lead for good against Tiger starter Desiree Smith (2-6) in the top of the second inning.
Colleen Kulivan doubled home the frame's first run, then scored on a wild pitch to stake the Lady Lions to a 2-0 lead.
Southeastern added to its advantage in the top of the third inning. Krolczyk hit a double off the left field fence to score
Ka'Lyn Watson and Magee and put Southeastern up, 4-0.
Brunson was able to pitch out of a bases loaded jam in the third, but the Tigers finally got to her in the fifth. Olivia Silvestre reached on an error to lead off the frame and would score on an RBI double by Rian Dirmeyer. The Tigers were poised to pull even closer, but a diving catch by Kulivan kept the Southeastern lead at 4-1.
SLU got the run back in the top of the seventh inning.
Ka'Lyn Watson led off the frame with her third home run of the season, skying a solo shot well over the left field fence.
Southeastern would need the insurance run, as a two-run double by Jordan Hayes with one out cut the lead in half and chased reliever
Chloe Bennett from the game. With the tying runs in scoring position, Comeaux forced Victoria Lloyd to ground out and then struck out Reagan Hamilton to complete the series sweep.
Southeastern 10, Santa Clara 2
After opening Thursday in Stockton, California, SLU headed to Santa Clara, California for the second game of the day. Southeastern jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second versus Alaina Valdez (3-3).
Maddie Watson led off the inning with a triple to the right centerfield gap, which Johnson followed with an RBI double. An RBI single by Kulivan scored the inning's second run.
Santa Clara took advantage of a Southeastern error in the bottom of the second inning to cut the lead in half, but the Lady Lions came roaring right back in the top of the third inning.
A two-run single by
Maddie Watson scored the frame's first two runs, then a Bronco error allowed Johnson to score an unearned run and put Southeastern ahead, 5-1.
An RBI single by Taryn Clements in the bottom of the fourth cut the Lady Lion advantage to 5-2, but that was as close as Santa Clara would get.
Ka'Lyn Watson singled home the first two runs of the top of the sixth inning, then scored later in the frame when
Ariel Gomez got caught in a run down. Krolczyk doubled home the inning's final run to put SLU up, 9-2.
Southeastern closed out the scoring in the top of the seventh inning. Consecutive singles by Johnson,
Audrey Greely and Kulivan loaded the bases, then Goodman drove in Johnson with an RBI groundout to put Southeastern ahead, 10-2. Blanchard sat down the Broncos in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory.
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.
