HAMMOND, La. – The 2026 Southland Conference regular season champion and two-time reigning SLC Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team rolled to a doubleheader sweep of UIW Friday evening at North Oak Park.
Southeastern (44-11, 24-2 SLC) run-ruled and shutout the visiting Cardinals (31-19, 16-10 SLC) twice to earn its ninth straight Southland Conference series victory. The Lions held a UIW squad that came in hitting .333 as a team to four hits in Friday's twin bill.
In the opener, SLU broke a scoreless tie with eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on the way to an 8-0 victory.
Cydnee Schneider was 3-for-3 and tied a single-season school record with her 20
th double of 2026.
Colleen Kulivan drove in a team-high three runs in the win for Southeastern.
Macie LaRue (6-2) and
Hallie Burns combined for a two-hit shutout in the opener.
The Lions scored in every inning of the nightcap on the way to a 10-0 victory.
Ka'Lyn Watson and
Maria Detillier each homered and combined for seven RBI to fuel the Southeastern attack.
Shelby Morris scored two runs on the day – giving her a school-record 57 runs scored this spring.
Cera Blanchard (13-1) and
Haley Crawford combined to hold UIW to two hits, as Southeastern earned its single-season school record and Division I-leading 21
st shutout of 2026.
Southeastern will close out the regular season Saturday, hosting UIW at noon to cap the series sponsored by North Oaks Health. Saturday's game will be televised on ESPN+.
Game One – Southeastern 8, UIW 0 (5 Innings)
LaRue and UIW starter Jenny Robledo (5-4) matched zeroes until Southeastern broke through in a big way in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kulivan ripped a bases loaded triple into the left centerfield gap to open the scoring, then scored on an RBI single by
Shenita Tucker to chase Robledo from the game.
A throwing error and a passed ball led to two more runs for Southeastern, then Schneider doubled home
Chloe Magee. The double was Schneider's league-high 20
th, matching the single-season standard set by Rebecca Skains in 2019. Another error allowed Schneider to score to give SLU an 8-0 lead.
UIW put two on with two outs against Burns in the top of the fifth inning, but the Booneville, Mississippi native retired Madison Dorrow to secure the mercy-rule win.
Game Two – Southeastern 10, UIW 0 (5 Innings)
SLU jumped out to a big lead in the bottom of the first inning against UIW starter Sam Portillo (5-4). Watson hit a grand slam to get Southeastern on the board, then Tucker plated another run on a ground out to put the Lions up, 5-0.
Detillier hit a one-out home run in the bottom of the second inning, while
Veronica Puckett stole home to give SLU a 7-0 cushion. More heads up baserunning allowed two runs to score on a Detillier fielder's choice in the bottom of the third inning.
Morris singled home Tucker in the bottom of the fourth inning to close out the scoring. The Cardinals put a pair of runners on in the fifth, but Crawford struck out Dorrow to close out the doubleheader sweep and enforce the mercy rule.
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.
