THIBODAUX, La. – The two-time reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team added another trophy to the program's trophy case, securing the first SLC regular season championship in school history Friday night at Swanner Field.
Southeastern (40-11, 21-2 SLC) clinched the title with an 8-3 victory over Nicholls (27-19, 15-8 SLC) combined with UIW's two losses at Lamar. As the regular season champion, SLU secured the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will host bracket play at North Oak Park April 30-May 2.
With the win, SLU also secured its fifth straight 40-win season. As of April 17, only the Lions and Oklahoma have won 40 or more games each year from 2022-26.
After dropping the opener, Southeastern used an 11-hit attack to pull away in the nightcap.
Maria Detillier,
Cydnee Schneider and
Colleen Kulivan each had two hits for SLU.
Hallie Burns (16-4),
Tyler Oubre and
Cera Blanchard combined to hold Nicholls to three hits in the win.
The Colonels opened the day with a 3-1 victory.
Brilee Ford drove in SLU's lone run, as the Lions were limited to five hits.
Macie LaRue tossed 5.2 innings of relief for Southeastern, allowing four hits and two runs.
The series wraps Saturday with a noon contest on ESPN+.
Game One – Nicholls 3, Southeastern 1
Nicholls jumped out on top in the bottom of the first inning against SLU starter
Haley Crawford (4-2). Erin Krause singled home Claire Sisco to open the scoring and put the Colonels up, 1-0.
The Colonels added to their tally in the bottom of the second inning. Sisco singled home Sydney Mann, then scored on an RBI double by Madison Moak to give Nicholls a 3-0 cushion.
Southeastern avoided the shutout as it finally got to Nicholls starter Averi Paden (6-3) in the top of the seventh inning. Schneider led off the frame with her league-high 17
th double. One out later, Ford singled home pinch runner
Breezy Pantalion. SLU would get no closer, however, as Paden retired
Addison Contorno and
Colleen Kulivan to close out the win,
Game Two – Southeastern 8, Nicholls 3
Southeastern took the lead in the top of the first inning.
Shelby Morris led off the game with a single, was bunted over to second by
Chloe Magee and scored on an RBI single by Detillier to give the Lions a 1-0 cushion.
Nicholls answered in the bottom of the first inning, as Moak ripped a solo home run over the right field fence to knot the score at 1-1.
Burns and Nicholls starter Molly Yoo matched zeroes until the top of the fourth inning.
Ka'Lyn Watson led off the inning with a double and scored later in the inning on a Colonel error to give the Lions a 2-1 lead.
SLU added to its advantage in the top of the fifth inning. After Magee was hit by a pitch and stole second, Detillier and Schneider recorded back-to-back RBI doubles to stretch the Southeastern lead to 4-1. One out later, Ford flared an RBI single into right field to plate Pantalion and give the Lions a 5-1 advantage.
Southeastern added to its tally in the top of the sixth inning. Kulivan drew a leadoff walk and scored on an RBI single by Magee to give SLU a 6-1 lead.
The Colonels chipped in to the lead in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of a SLU error to score two unearned runs and cut the lead to 6-3.
Southeastern got a run back in the top of the seventh inning. Kulivan singled home Schneider to run the ledger to 7-3.
Shenita Tucker then reached on an error to allow Contorno to score an added insurance tun to give SLU an 8-3 advantage.
Blanchard sat down the Colonels in order in the bottom of the seventh to close out 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.
