HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The two-time reigning Southland Conference Tournament champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team extended its school-record winning streak to 20 games with a 5-4 victory at Southern Miss Wednesday evening at USM Softball Complex.
A sacrifice fly by
Chloe Magee drove in
Colleen Kulivan with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie with the eventual game-winning run for SLU (34-9).
Hallie Burns (13-3) pitched the Lions out of a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh, as Southeastern dropped the Golden Eagles (27-16) for the second time this season.
Maria Detillier and
Kailey Dixon each drove in runs for SLU, which finished with six hits in Wednesday's win.
Cera Blanchard,
Haley Crawford and Burns combined to hold USM to five hits in the victory.
Southeastern took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Cydnee Schneider reached on an error and was replaced on the base paths by
Breezy Pantalion. Two outs later, Dixon beat out an infield single that allowed Pantaliion to race home with the game's first run.
The Lions broke the game open in their half of the third inning. Detillier singled home the inning's first run, then
Shelby Morris stole home. USM starter Madison Graham uncorked a wild pitch later in the frame that allowed Detillier to score and put SLU up, 4-0.
USM got on the board in the bottom of the third. Hannah Christian singled, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Carrie Green to pull the Golden Eagles closer at 4-1.
Southern Miss pulled closer in the bottom of the fifth inning. Nealy McManus led off the inning with a double into the left field corner and scored later in the frame on an RBI groundout by Christian to cut the Lion advantage to 4-2.
USM took advantage of a Southeastern error to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. However, SLU answered in the top of the seventh inning. Kulivan led off the frame with a single and scored later in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Magee to put the Lions back on top, 5-4.
Burns hit Christian and Green singled to put a pair on with one out. Madison Johnson then hit a line shot that
Brilee Ford snagged at first for the second out. Burns then forced Kinsley Gordon-Silvey to hit a pop out to
Shenita Tucker for the game's final out.
Southeastern will return home this weekend to host Lamar for a three-game Southland Conference series, starting with a 4 p.m. doubleheader Friday and concluding with Saturday's noon series finale. Friday's games will be televised on ESPN+. Prior to Saturday's game,
Tyler Oubre, Dixon, Schneider, Tucker,
Macie LaRue,
Ka'Lyn Watson, Blanchard, Kulivan and Detillier will be recognized in a Senior Day ceremony.
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.
