HAMMOND, La. – The two-time reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team earned a doubleheader sweep of Northwestern State Friday evening at North Oak Park.
Southeastern (25-9, 8-0 SLC) extended its winning streak to 11 games and won the Cypress Trophy for the fifth straight season. The softball series winner between SLU and Northwestern State (14-17, 4-4 SLC) has received the Cypress Trophy since 2019. NSU won in 2019 and 2021 with the Lady Lions changing the momentum over the past half-decade.
Southeastern opened the day with a 10-2 victory in six innings.
Brilee Ford hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning to key a six-run frame and SLU was never threatened.
Shelby Morris,
Chloe Magee,
Cydnee Schneider and
Colleen Kulivan collected two hits apiece in the opener.
Hallie Burns (9-3) scattered four hits and struck out four in 4.2 innings of relief to earn the victory for SLU.
In the nightcap,
Maria Detillier hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Southeastern a 3-1 victory. Morris led the SLU offense with three hits, while
Macie LaRue and
Cera Blanchard (8-1) combined to hold the Demons to four hits.
SLU will look to complete the series sweep Saturday at noon. Saturday's contest will be televised on ESPN+.
Game One – Southeastern 10, Northwestern State 2 (6 Innings)
NSU jumped out to a 1-0 lead versus SLU starter
Katherine Thiessen in the top of the first inning, but Southeastern quickly answered against Demon ace Mattison Buster (12-7). Schneider and
Ka'Lyn Watson drew bases loaded walks to chase Buster from the game, then Ford greeted NSU reliever Grace Birk with her second grand slam of the season to put SLU up, 6-1.
Kulivan scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third inning, but NSU cut the lead back to 7-2 on an RBI single by Mckenna Rinewalt in the top of the fourth.
Southeastern got the run back in the fourth inning, as
Shenita Tucker singled home Watson to put the Lady Lions ahead, 8-2.
SLU walked it off in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kulivan doubled home the inning's first run, then scored later in the frame on an RBI single by Morris to secure Southeastern's seventh straight mercy-rule victory.
Game Two – Southeastern 3, Northwestern State 1
LaRue and NSU starter Brooklyn Stohler (1-6) matched zeroes until SLU broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning. Morris drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run in and break the scoreless tie.
Northwestern State tied it up in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Makynlie Jones hit a towering solo shot over the left field fence to knot the game and chase LaRue from the game.
Blanchard retired all five Demons she faced to set up SLU's dramatic victory. Morris led off the seventh with a sharp single to centerfield. One out later, Detillier deposited her team-high seventh home run over the left centerfield fence to give Southeastern the victory.
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.
