Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. – Top-seeded McNeese earned a 3-2 walk-off victory over No. 2 seed Southeastern Louisiana University in the opening game of the Southland Conference Softball Championship Series Thursday evening at Cowgirl Diamond.
 
McNeese (41-18) saw Nyjah Fontenot beat on an infield single and advanced to second on a Southeastern error. After Jada Munoz bunted her over to third, Samantha Mundine singled her home to put SLU (46-14) down, 1-0, in the best-of-three series.
 
Maddie Watson homered and doubled to lead Southeastern at the plate. Macie LaRue and Britney Lewinski (8-5) combined to hold the host Cowgirls to six hits.
 
Southeastern mounted its first threat in the top of the first inning. The Lady Lions loaded the bases with two outs, but McNeese pitcher Maddie Taylor (18-7) retired Watson to keep SLU off the board.
 
The Cowgirls struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Reese Reyna singled to lead off the frame and scored one out later on an RBI double by Sarah Allen to give McNeese an early 1-0 lead.
 
After stranding five runners in the first three innings, SLU finally broke through in the fourth inning. Watson one-hopped the centerfield fence for a leadoff double and was replaced on the base paths by Breanna Fontenot. Fontenot was bunted over to third by Colleen Kulivan, then Kailey Dixon hit a grounder to short. Fontenot slid around the tag at home to tie the score at 1-1.
 
McNeese chased LaRue from the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, putting runners on second and third with one out. The Cowgirls would eventually load the bases, but Lewinski would get out of the jam to keep the score tied at 1-1.
 
Southeastern took its first lead in the top of the sixth inning. Watson hit a towering shot over the left field fence to put the Lady Lions up, 2-1.
 
The Lady Lion lead would be short-lived, as Rylie Bouvier led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot over the right centerfield wall to knot the score at 2-2. McNeese would put a pair of runners on with one out, but Lewinski forced Kassidy Chance to hit into a 4-3-6 double play to keep the score deadlocked at 2-2.
 
Taylor retired the Lady Lions in order in the top of the seventh to set up the Cowgirls' fifth straight walk-off victory.
 
The series continues Friday with a 6 p.m. contest at Cowgirl Diamond. All games during the SLC Championship series 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.