HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team opened conference play with a doubleheader sweep of East Texas A&M Friday evening at North Oak Park.
Southeastern (18-7, 2-0 SLC) opened the day with a 7-2 victory over the visiting Lions (4-20, 0-2 SLC).
Macie LaRue (6-0) did not allow a hit in 6.1 innings of work in the circle, striking out nine in the victory.
Kailey Dixon led SLU in the opener with two hits and two runs scored.
Shelby Morris drove in a pair of runs for the Lady Lions.
In the nightcap, Southeastern stole nine bases and drew nine free passes (six walks, three HBP) in a 10-0 run-rule victory.
Chloe Magee and
Maria Detillier had two hits apiece. Detillier drove in three runs, while Magee and
Cydnee Schneider each had two RBI.
Hallie Burns (5-2) deftly pitched out of trouble on the way to a complete-game shutout. The Booneville, Mississippi native scattered six hits and struck out four to earn her victory.
SLU will look to complete the series sweep Saturday at 8 a.m. The series finale will be televised on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at
www.LionSports.net/sidearmstats/softball.
Game One – Southeastern 7, East Texas A&M 2
SLU jumped on top in the bottom of the second inning against ETAMU starter Julia Sanchez (1-8). A
Maddie Watson double, a
Colleen Kulivan walk and a Dixon single loaded the bases with one out.
Shenita Tucker then flared a single down the left field line to score Watson. A Morris walk and a Magee sacrifice fly forced in two more runs and gave Southeastern an early 3-0 lead.
The Lady Lions blew the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kulivan led off the frame with a triple into the left centerfield gap, then scored on an RBI single by Dixon. Morris and
Brilee Ford each drove in runs, while a ETAMU error led to another run and a 7-0 SLU lead.
LaRue left the game with a perfect game through five innings, before Southeastern emptied the bench in the top of the sixth inning. East Texas A&M scratched across two runs before LaRue came back in to quell the Lions' comeback bid. LaRue tossed a scoreless seventh to close out the win.
Game Two – Southeastern 10, East Texas A&M 0 (5 Innings)
After Burns pitched out of a two-on, no-out jam in the top of the first, SLU took the early lead against Lion starter Maddie Muller (1-10) in the bottom of the frame. Morris was hit by a pitch to lead off the game, then scored on an RBI triple by Detillier to give the Lady Lions a 1-0 lead.
East Texas A&M loaded the bases with one out in the top of the second inning. Burns forced KK Cosek to pop out, then struck out Emma Rodrigues to keep the Lions off the board. In the bottom of the inning, Magee singled home a pair of runs to put SLU up, 3-0. A Kulivan sacrifice fly scored Ford in the bottom of the third to extend the Southeastern lead to 4-0.
Southeastern broke open the game with six runs in its half of the fourth, sending 11 to the plate. Detillier and Schneider each singled in a pair of runs, an East Texas A&M error allowed another run to score and Morris singled home the final run to give SLU a 10-0 lead.
East Texas A&M would again load the bases in the fifth, but Burns forced J'Lailah Dotson to fly out for the final out. The visiting Lions stranded 10 runners in the mercy rule loss.
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.
