TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team continued play at the JoAnne Graf Classic with a doubleheader sweep of Florida A&M Saturday afternoon at JoAnne Graf Field.
Southeastern (11-5) opened the day with a 3-2, nine-inning victory over the Rattlers (3-9).
Shelby Morris led SLU at the plate finishing 3-for-4, driving in the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning.
Britney Lewinski (2-2) threw 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win in the circle for the Lady Lions.
SLU came back in the nightcap with a dominant 15-0 run-rule win over FAMU.
Brilee Ford hit her first home run as a Lady Lions and drove in a team-high four runs.
Shenita Tucker,
Lainee Bailey,
Colleen Kulivan and
Kailey Dixon each had two hits. Bailey (2-1),
Olivia Henry and
Celia Lamkin combined for a five-hit shutout of the Rattlers.
Southeastern will close out the tournament Sunday with a 9 a.m. contest versus No. 7 Texas A&M.
Game One – Southeastern 3, Florida A&M 2 (9 Innings)
SLU starter
Macie LaRue and FAMU's Zoryana Hughes (2-2) were in a scoreless battle until the Lady Lions broke through in the top of the third inning. Morris led off the frame with a single, stole second and third and scored on an RBI single by
Chloe Magee to give the Lady Lions a 1-0 lead.
Southeastern added to its lead in the top of the fifth inning. Morris beat out an infield single and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by Magee to put the Lady Lions up, 2-0.
FAMU tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. A two-run single by Amari Brown knotted the game at 2-2.
SLU finally broke the tie in the ninth.
Addison Contorno pinch ran for
Cydnee Schneider after the Lady Lion catcher led off the inning with a single.
Maddie Watson bunted Contorno into scoring position and then she advanced to third on a single by
Colleen Kulivan. One out later, Morris beat out an infield single to allow Contorno to race home for the game-winning score. Lewinski retired the Rattlers in order in the bottom of the ninth to close out the victory.
Game Two – Southeastern 15, Florida A&M 0 (5 Innings)
SLU jumped on Brown (1-2) in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back.
Maria Detillier doubled home the first run of the frame, then scored on an RBI single by Bailey to put the Lady Lions up, 2-0.
Southeastern sent 12 to the plate in the top of the second. Dixon, Magee and Kulivan each drove in two runs in a seven-run inning that extended the SLU lead to 9-0.
The Lady Lions closed out the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Breanna Fontenot tripled in the inning's first run and scored on an infield single by Contorno. Ford then provided the final 15-0 margin with a grand slam over the left field fence.
Lamkin stranded a pair of FAMU runners in the fifth inning to close out SLU's sixth shutout victory of the season.
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.
