HATTIESBURG, Miss. – A five-run first inning was too much for the reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team to overcome in a 6-2 nonconference loss at Southern Miss Wednesday night at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Lady Lions (16-7). USM improved to 8-12 overall with the win.
The reigning Southland Conference Hitter of the Week,
Maria Detillier, led SLU at the plate with two hits.
Brilee Ford had the lone RBI for Southeastern.
The first four Golden Eagles reached in the bottom of the first inning against Lady Lion starter
Britney Lewinski (3-4) to chase her from the game.
Lainee Bailey retired the first batter she faced in Lewinski's stead, but Jana Lee hit a one-out grand slam to give USM an early 5-0 advantage.
Macie LaRue came in for Bailey to get out of the first and held USM at bay until the Golden Eagles took advantage of two errors to score an unearned run in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-0.
SLU finally got to Lee (4-4) in the top of the sixth inning.
Chloe Magee reached on a two-out single, advanced to second on a USM error, then was singled home by Ford to pull Southeastern within, 6-1.
Southeastern added to its final tally in the seventh. Two USM errors allowed the Lady Lions to cut their deficit to 6-2 with two outs, but Lee struck out Magee to close out the victory.
Wednesday's game was the final contest of a 12-game road swing for SLU, which will return home to open Southland Conference play this week at North Oak Park. East Texas A&M will visit for a 4 p.m. doubleheader Friday and a noon contest Saturday. The games will air on ESPN+ and can be heard online at
www.LionUpRadio.org. Friday will be Pack the Park Night and fans are encouraged to wear green to support the Lady Lions in the SLC opener.
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.
