HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team will continue its 12-game road swing this week, participating in the Mardi Gras Mambo at the Youngsville Sports Complex in Youngsville, Louisiana.
 
SLU (11-6) will open the tournament Friday, facing Maine (1-7) at 2 p.m. and Iowa State (6-7) at 4 p.m. Saturday will see Southeastern match up with West Georgia (4-5) at 3 p.m. and Army (5-5) at 5 p.m. Sunday's tournament finale pits the Lady Lions versus Monmouth (3-11) at 10 a.m. Live stats for the tournament action will be available at www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
 
The Lady Lions are currently ranked 22^nd in the D1Softball Mid-Major Top 25. SLU's last four losses have all come to team's ranked in the top 10 nationally – three by one run in the final at-bat.
 
Southeastern enters the tournament with a .305 team batting average. Shelby Morris has scored a team-high 14 runs and leads the team with a .405 batting average, while Chloe Magee (.400), Ariel Gomez (.357), Colleen Kulivan (.341) and Brilee Ford (.333) round out the team's top five hitters for average.
 
Maria Detillier leads the team with six doubles and 14 RBI, while Kulivan has a team-high two triples. Ford, Blair Walsh, Cydnee Schneider and Brilee Broussard have each homered for the Lady Lions.
 
The Southeastern pitching staff enters the weekend with a 2.08 team earned run average. Macie LaRue (3-0, 2.41 ERA), Britney Lewinski (2-3, 2.57 ERA, 1 save), Hallie Burns (3-2, 2.05 ERA) and Lainee Bailey (2-1, 1.14 ERA) have been the most used arms for Southeastern.
 
SLU opens the tournament facing a Maine team that is hitting .190 as a team. Gabby Papushka leads the Black Bear lineup with a .292 batting average, two home runs and six RBI. Alysen Rieth (0-4, 6.36 ERA) and Madison Simmerman (1-2, 1.67 ERA) have handled the majority of the work in the circle for Maine.
 
Jessie Clemons (.442, 2 HR, 11 RBI) and Angelina Allen (.415, 3 HR, 10 RBI) are the top hitters for an Iowa State team that carries a .276 team batting average. Lauren Schurman (2-4, 3.10 ERA), Jaiden Ralston (2-3, 6.72 ERA) and Sami Potvin (1-0, 4.72 ERA) are the top Cyclone arms.
 
West Georgia is coached by former Southeastern assistant coach Kristy Burton and is led at the plate by former Lady Lion Blaire Bizette (.500, 1 HR, 10 RBI). Calli Hardison (1-3, 4.06 ERA), Dixiana Sims (1-1, 4.87 ERA, 1 save) and Jenna Samuel (2-1, 1.87 ERA) split time in the circle for the Wolves.
 
Taylor Brown leads Army with a .417 batting average, while Caitlyn Newburn has a team-high four home runs and 12 RBI. Breanna Izzo (3-1, 2.86 ERA, 1 save), Amanda Eaglin (1-3, 5.79 ERA) and Katelyn Flanders (1-1, 3.06 ERA, 1 save) comprise the Black Knight pitching staff.
 
Lexi Castenada (.378) leads Monmouth at the plate, while Jayla Cadena (2-2, 6.06 ERA), Olivia Lewis (0-5, 12.41 ERA and Izzy Bonacci (1-3, 10.45 ERA) have shared time in the circle for the Hawks.
 
Following the trip to Youngsville, SLU will close out its 12-game road swing and the pre-Southland Conference portion of its 2025 schedule with a 6 p.m. contest at Southern Miss March 5. The game between the Lady Lions and Golden Eagles will be televised on ESPN+.
 
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.