HAMMOND, La. – The two-time reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team will return home for the first time in a month when it hosts Southern Miss Wednesday at 5 p.m. at North Oak Park.
 
The game between SLU (18-9) and the visiting Golden Eagles (18-9), which will be sponsored by Tangi Tourism and televised on ESPN+, will feature the Pack the Park promotion. Students will receive free t-shirts by presenting their student ID. It's also Greek Night and fans can bring donations to the Southeastern Student Food Pantry.
 
Southeastern returns home riding a four-game winning streak. SLU opened Southland Conference play in dominant fashion, outscoring East Texas A&M, 34-5, in a three-game series sweep that included two five-inning wins.
 
The Lady Lions are hitting .306 as a team heading into Wednesday's contest. Shelby Morris leads the team with a .387 batting average, followed by Cydnee Schneider (.355), Kailey Dixon (.352), Chloe Magee (.333) and Colleen Kulivan (.308). Morris also paces the roster with 24 runs and 34 hits, while she and Magee have each swiped a team-high nine bases.
 
Maria Detillier leads the team with four home runs and 20 RBI, while Brilee Ford and Ka'Lyn Watson each have three home runs apiece. Schneider's nine doubles is the team's top total, while Morris and Dixon each have two triples to their credit.
 
Southeastern's pitching staff carries a 2.09 team earned run average and has eight shutouts through 27 games. Cera Blanchard (7-1, 1.23 ERA, 1 save), Hallie Burns (5-3, 2.26 ERA), Haley Crawford (2-1, 1.14 ERA, 2 saves) and Macie LaRue (2-2, 3.32 ERA, 1 save) are the primary arms for the Lady Lions, who also have received contributions in the circle from Tyler Oubre (0-1, 5.25 ERA), Bre Clark (1-0, 1.11 ERA), Kathreine Thiessen (1-1, 2.63 ERA) and Celia Lamkin (0-0, 7.00 ERA).
 
SLU will be facing a Southern Miss lineup that is hitting .312 as a team. Hannah Christian leads the Golden Eagles with a .424 batting average, 21 RBI and 22 runs scored.
 
In the circle, USM has used nine different pitchers on a staff that has a 3.10 team average. Kayla Giardina (8-3, 2.03 ERA, 1 save) has been the workhorse of the Southern Miss staff, having logged more than double the innings in the circle of anyone else on the roster this season.
 
Wednesday's game will be the start of an eight-game home stand for Southeastern. HCU visits this weekend for a three-game SLC series. The series, which will be televised on ESPN+, opens with a 4 p.m. doubleheader Friday and concludes with a noon contest Saturday.
 
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.