SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team earned a 4-2 victory to open its Southland Conference series at UIW Thursday afternoon at H-E-B Field.
Southeastern (38-11, 18-4 SLC) extended its win streak to six games with Tuesday's victory. UIW fell to 25-16 overall and 15-7 in league play.
Macie LaRue (16-1) struck out eight batters and scattered three hits in five innings of shutout relief to lead the Lady Lions.
Shelby Morris and
Cydnee Schneider led SLU with two hits apiece with Schneider driving in a pair of runs.
Southeastern took the early lead in the top of the first inning. An RBI single by
Maria Detillier scored Morris and put SLU up, 1-0.
UIW answered in the bottom of the second inning. An RBI triple by Ayla Gonzales tied the score at 1-1.
The Lady Lions retook the lead in the top of the third inning. After a UIW error and a Detillier walk, Schneider doubled off the left centerfield fence to clear the bases and give SLU a 3-1 advantage.
UIW came right back in the bottom of the third inning. Back-to-back walks to open the frame chased Lady Lion starter
Hallie Burns from the game. Victoria Altamirano then stole third and Schneider's throw down to third was wide of the bag allowing the reigning SLC Player of the Year to race home and cut the lead to 3-2.
Southeastern got the run back in the top of the fourth inning.
Maddie Watson led off the inning with a double and was replaced on the base paths by
Brilee Broussard. Two outs later, Morris singled home Broussard and extended the Lady Lion advantage to 4-2.
UIW was poised for a big inning in the bottom of the fifth, as a walk, a single and a SLU error loaded the bases with one out. However, LaRue retired the next two batters to maintain Southeastern's two-run cushion.
The Cardinals loaded the bases again in the bottom of the sixth with two outs. LaRue again answered the call, striking out Jaisy Caceres to keep the SLU lead at 4-2.
There was no drama in the final inning, as LaRue struck out the side in the seventh inning to close out the victory.
The series wraps up with an 11:30 a.m. doubleheader Friday that 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.
