YOUNGSVILLE, La. – The two-time reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion and No. 25 Southeastern Louisiana University softball team came up clutch in the late innings on the way to a pair of one-run victories Friday evening at the Mardi Gras Combo at the Youngsville Sports Complex.
Southeastern (7-3) rallied past Georgia State (5-1) for a 3-2 victory in the opening game of the day. After falling behind, 2-0, early, SLU tied the game with two runs in the fourth inning, before
Kailey Dixon drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth.
Dixon drove in two runs and scored the third in the win over previously unbeaten GSU.
Cydnee Schneider led Southeastern with two hits.
Cera Blanchard (3-0) allowed one hit and struck out three in 3.2 innings of shutout relief to claim the win in the circle.
Schneider,
Shenita Tucker and
Colleen Kulivan all drove in runs to stake the Lady Lions to an early 3-0 lead over New Mexico (2-5) in the nightcap. However, the Lobos took advantage of a pair of Southeastern errors to knot the score with a three-run top of the sixth inning.
SLU answered with the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Schneider drew a leadoff walk and gave way on the base paths to pinch runner
Veronica Puckett. Two outs later,
Addison Contorno sliced a single into left field and the speedy Puckett easily scored from second to provide Southeastern a 4-3 advantage it would not relinquish.
Haley Crawford (1-1) earned her first win in the circle as a Lady Lion, allowing four hits and one earned run, striking out four in six innings of work.
Hallie Burns quelled a two-out rally in the seventh inning to secure her first save of 2026.
Southeastern will look to close out a perfect run in Youngsville Saturday, facing SIUE at 3 p.m. and St. Thomas at 5 p.m.
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.
