HAMMOND, La. – The two-time reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team opens the home portion of its Southland Conference schedule, hosting HCU for a three-game series this week at North Oak Park.
 
The series between SLU (19-9, 3-0 SLC) and the visiting Huskies (4-18, 1-2 SLC) will open with a 4 p.m. doubleheader Friday and concludes Saturday at noon. All three games will be televised on ESPN+.
 
In its first home game after 20 straight games outside of Hammond, the Lady Lions extended its winning streak to five games with an 11-3 run-rule victory over Southern Miss Wednesday. Southeastern finished with 13 hits in the victory, marking the fifth straight game SLU has collected double-digit hits.
 
Southeastern has raised its team batting average to .314. Shelby Morris (.376) is one of five SLU starters hitting above .300, along with Cydnee Schneider (.359), Kailey Dixon (.351), Colleen Kulivan (.345) and Chloe Magee (.338). Morris also leads the team with 35 hits and 26 runs scored, while sharing team-high honors with Magee with nine steals each.
 
Maria Detillier tops the Lady Lion roster with four home runs and 21 RBI, while Brilee Ford and Ka'Lyn Watson each have three homers. Schneider's nine doubles is a team-high total, while Morris and Dixon each have two triples. Morris, who is currently second on the team with seven doubles, has a team-high 10 extra-base hits.
 
Southeastern carries a 2.14 team ERA into this week's series. Cera Blanchard (7-1, 1.44 ERA, 1 save), Hallie Burns (6-3, 2.26 ERA), Haley Crawford (2-1, 1.11 ERA, 2 saves) and Macie LaRue (2-2, 3.32 ERA, 1 save) have handled the majority of the innings for a SLU staff that also includes Tyler Oubre (0-1, 5.25 ERA), Bre Clark (1-0, 1.11 ERA), Katherine Thiessen (1-1, 2.63 ERA) and Celia Lamkin (0-0, 7.00 ERA).
 
HCU opened Southland Conference play with a three-game series at home versus Northwestern State, dropping two of three to the visiting Demons.
 
The Huskies are hitting .244 at a team. Maddy Bailey (.370, 4 HR) and Chloe Foster (10 RBI) are the team's leading hitters.
 
HCU brings a 6.61 team ERA to Hammond. The trio of Cara Pitman (1-7, 6.94 ERA), Addy Prasifka (0-6, 6.30 ERA, 1 save) and Leah Hammack (1-3, 5.55 ERA) have evenly split time in the circle for the Huskies.
 
Following this week's series, Southeastern will welcome Jackson State for a 5 p.m. contest next Tuesday at North Oak Park. Tuesday will be Superhero Night, as fans are encouraged to wear their favorite super hero gear. It will also be Faculty and Staff night at North Oak Park, as all Southeastern faculty and staff will receive free admission by presenting their SLU ID at the front entrance.
 
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.