HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team dropped a pair of games on Friday's opening day of the Tiger Classic.
Southeastern (0-2) had its chances in both games, stranding eight runners in the opener versus Charlotte (1-0), then leaving 11 on base in the nightcap versus Central Arkansas
In the opening game, SLU fell into an early 2-0 hole and eventually fell, 5-1, to defending American Athletic Conference champion Charlotte.
Chloe Magee led Southeastern with two hits and score the Lady Lions' lone run.
The Lady Lions jumped on top, 2-0, in the nightcap, but left the bases loaded three times, allowing UCA to take a 5-2 decision.
Shelby Morris led SLU at the plate versus the Bears, finishing 3-for-3 with a pair of steals.
Southeastern will continue tournament play Saturday with an 11 a.m. rematch with Charlotte. Live stats, provided by host LSU, will be accessible via the softball schedule page at
www.LionSports.net.
Game One – Charlotte 5, Southeastern 1
After Southeastern stranded a pair in the top of the first, Charlotte took the lead in the bottom of the frame. London Dirke drew a bases loaded walk off
Hallie Burns (0-1) to give the Niners a 1-0 advantage.
Charlotte scratched out an unearned run in the bottom of the second to double its lead. SLU threatened in its half of the third, putting a pair on with consecutive singles by
Shenita Tucker and Magee. However, Brooke Bowling (1-0) recovered to retire
Maria Detillier and
Maddie Watson to keep the Lady Lions off the board.
Southeastern had another scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth, as
Colleen Kulivan reached on an error and
Kailey Dixon drew a walk to put a pair on with two outs. However, Jenna Lord made a leaping grab on a
Shelby Morris liner to keep the Lady Lions scoreless.
SLU finally got on the board in the top of the fifth inning. Magee singled, advanced to second on a Detillier walk, moved to third when Watson reached on a fielder's choice and scored when the throw down to second to nab a stealing
Brilee Broussard was late.
Charlotte quickly got the run back in the bottom of the fifth, as Teagan Ritchie greeted SLU reliever
Celia Lamkin with a solo home run over the left centerfield fence. Ritchie was the first of four straight Niners to reach to start the frame, as Charlotte stretched the lead to 5-1.
Bowling held SLU scoreless from there to secure the season-opening victory.
Game Two – Central Arkansas 5, Southeastern 2
The Bears threatened in the top of the first inning against SLU starter
Britney Lewinski (0-1). UCA loaded the bases, but Lewinski retired Renee Christian to keep the Bears off the board.
SLU took the lead off Central Arkansas starter Julia Petty (1-0) in the bottom of the first inning. Tucker led off the frame with a walk, then advanced all the way to third on a Magee bunt single. After Magee swiped second to put both runners in scoring position, Petty uncorked a wild pitch to score Tucker. Magee would then come home on a Detillier sacrifice fly to give the Lady Lions a 2-0 lead.
After Lewinski stranded two more Bears in the top of the second, SLU threatened to break the game open. The Lady Lions loaded the bases, but Petty rallied to strike out Magee to keep the SLU lead at 2-0.
Central Arkansas finally got to Lewinski in the third. A pair of Southeastern errors fueled a four-run Bear inning and gave UCA a 4-2 advantage.
Southeastern loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fourth. However, Petty forced Detillier to pop out to maintain the Bears' two-run advantage.
UCA added to its lead in the top of the fifth. Renee Christian led off the frame with a triple to chase Lewinski, then scored on an infield single by LJ Smith to give the Bears a 5-2 advantage.
SLU loaded the bases again in the bottom of the sixth and again came away empty. A single by
Shelby Morris, followed by consecutive walks to Magee and Detillier packed the bags for SLU, but Petty forced Watson to pop out to hold SLU off the board.
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.
