HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University freshman pitcher
Hallie Burns threw the 12
th no-hitter in program history to cap the reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion SLU softball team's SLC doubleheader sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Thursday evening at North Oak Park.
Burns (9-3) walked two and struck out five in a complete-game effort in a 5-2 win for the Lady Lions (28-8, 10-1 SLC) in the nightcap. Burns and Islander pitcher Kendra Winfrey (4-6) were embroiled in a pitcher's duel in a wild game that featured a combined seven unearned runs and six errors.
Burns' no-hitter was the second of the season, as fellow freshmen
Olivia Henry and
Celia Lamkin held Mississippi Valley State hitless in a 10-0 victory back on Feb. 15. Burns is the first Lady Lion to throw a no-hitter versus a Southland Conference opponent in program history and the first SLU pitcher to throw a complete-game no-hitter since Heather Zumo no-hit South Dakota on Feb. 11, 2021.
Southeastern scored in every inning in the opener on the way to a 9-1 run-rule victory over the Islanders (9-22, 3-8 SLC).
Shenita Tucker led the Lady Lions at the plate, finishing 3-for-3, while
Maddie Watson hit her first home run of the season, as she and
Shelby Morris each drove in two runs.
Tucker and
Colleen Kulivan each had two runs in Friday's game one win.
Macie LaRue (11-0) remained unbeaten in the circle, allowing six hits and one run in a complete-game effort.
Southeastern's two wins extended its win streak to six games and helped SLU improve to 13-0 at home this season. The series wraps up Friday with a noon contest at North Oak Park. Friday's game will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard online at
www.LionUpRadio.org.
Game One – Southeastern 9, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1 (5 Innings)
Southeastern jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning versus Islander starter Malia Williams (4-7). RBI groundouts by
Maria Detillier and
Brilee Ford staked SLU to an early lead.
The Lady Lions padded its advantage in the bottom of the second. Kulivan beat out an infield single to lead off the inning and scored later in the frame on a sacrifice by Morris to push the SLU lead to 3-0.
The Islanders scratched out a run in the top of the third inning, as CJ Castilla singled home the visitors' first run of the day. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi seemed poised to add to its tally, loading the bases with one out. However, LaRue forced Mimi Thornton to pop out before striking out Crystal Davila to keep SLU on top, 3-1.
Ford hit a one-out double and scored when
Cydnee Schneider singled her home. On the next pitch, Watson drilled a towering shot over the left centerfield fence to put the Lady Lions up, 6-1.
The Islanders threatened in the top of the fourth, but Kulivan made a diving catch in foul territory to strand a pair of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi base runners. SLU took advantage of three AMCC errors in the bottom of the frame to extend the Southeastern lead to 7-1.
After LaRue pitched out of a two-on, no-out jam in the top of the fifth, Southeastern ended it in the bottom of the frame. Kulivan led off the inning with a single, stole second and third, then scored on an RBI double by Tucker. Morris then singled home Tucker to enforce the mercy rule.
Game Two – Southeastern 5, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took advantage of a three-base Southeastern error to score a pair of unearned runs off Burns (9-3) in the top of the first to take an early 2-0 lead.
Southeastern put a base runner on in each of the first four innings, but could not get to Winfrey until the bottom of the fifth inning. Tucker beat on an infield bunt single and advanced all the way to third when the throw down to first sailed wide. Morris followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate Tucker.
Morris then stole second and advanced to third on an error on the steal attempt. Magee followed with a slow grounder to short that Morris easily scored on to tie the score at 2-2.
Southeastern broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth inning. Ford drew a leadoff walk and was replaced on the base paths by
Ariel Gomez. Schneider followed with a sharp single through the right side to put a pair of runners on with no outs. Watson then laid down a nice sacrifice bunt in front of the circle. However, Winfrey's throw to first was way high and rolled all the way to the right field corner. Gomez, Schneider and Watson all scored on the throwing error to give SLU a 5-2 lead.
Burns made the lead stand and etched her name in the SLU history books to close out the win. After Madison Espinoza popped out to lead off the inning, Isabella Hune ripped a shot to right field that looked destined to be the game's first hit. However,
Addison Contorno, who had come in as a defensive replacement to start the inning, made a running over-the-shoulder catch to keep the no-hit bid alive. Burns struck out Taylor Reyes to close out the doubleheader sweep.
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.
