HAMMOND, La. – The 2026 Southland Conference regular champion Southeastern Louisiana University softball team dropped a 2-1 decision to Lamar in the final game of the North Oaks Health Southland Conference Hammond Bracket Sunday afternoon at North Oak Park.
Lamar (33-22) advances to next week's Southland Conference Championship Series at No. 2 seed McNeese, which runs Thursday through Saturday. Southeastern (46-14), which entered the day with an RPI or 32, will await next week's Selection Sunday show to see if it earns the program's first-ever at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Shenita Tucker led Southeastern with two hits in the loss, while
Ka'Lyn Watson tied the game with a seventh-inning triple.
Macie LaRue (6-3) allowed five hits in seven innings of work in the tough loss.
LaRue and LU ace Reagan Smith (15-5), who pitched every inning of the Cardinals' three wins this week, matched zeroes until Lamar struck first in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Ariel Flores doubled and was replaced on the base paths by Kamaryn Radford. One out later, Cimara-lei Wessling flared a singled into shallow center, scoring the speedy Radford and giving Lamar a 1-0 lead.
Smith made the advantage stand until SLU tied it up in the top of the seventh inning.
Cydnee Schneider drew a leadoff walk and was replaced on the base paths by
Veronica Puckett. Watson followed with a triple off the right centerfield fence to score Puckett and tie the score at 1-1.
LaRue and Smith retired the respective opponents in order, before Sicily Windham led off the bottom of the eighth with a double that bounced out the glove of a leaping Watson.
Hallie Burns came in and retired Roxy Thompson and Gracee Hess, but SLC Freshman of the Year Isabella Flores hit a sharp single up the middle to score Windham and send Lamar to Lake Charles.
SLU will await and see if its fifth consecutive 40-win season is good enough to allow Southeastern to make its third straight NCAA Regional appearance. The Lions have been nationally ranked in both the NFCA Coaches and Softball America polls this season and advanced to regional finals in each of the past two seasons.
The 2026 NCAA Softball Selection Show will air Sunday, May 10 at 6 p.m. (Central) on ESPN2.
North Oak Health Southland Conference Softball Championships – Hammond Bracket – North Oak Park – April 30-May 3, 2026 (All games on ESPN+)
Thursday, April 30
Game 1 – No. 5 Lamar 7, No. 4 UIW 5
Game 2 – No. 1 Southeastern 8, No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0 (6 Innings)
Friday, May 1
Game 3 – UIW 9, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0 (6 Innings) (Elimination game)
Saturday, May 2
Game 4 – Lamar 2, Southeastern 1 (8 Innings)
Game 5 – Southeastern 6, UIW 4 (Elimination Game)
Sunday, May 3
Game 6 – Lamar 2, Southeastern 1 (8 Innings)
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.
