Cowgirls clinch Southland Tournament No. 1 Seed with doubleheader sweep over Nicholls

THIBODAUX — McNeese softball clinched the No. 1 seed in next week’s Southland Conference Tournament and at least a tie for the SLC regular season title Friday night with its doubleheader sweep over Nicholls, taking the opening game 3-1 and the nightcap 7-0.

The Cowgirls (34-19, 14-3 SLC) can win the title outright with a win in Saturday’s 1 p.m. regular season finale or a loss by Southeastern to Northwestern State, who the Lions swept earlier Friday to remain one game behind the Cowgirls in the league standings.

Freshman Crislyne Moreno led the Cowgirls on the day with four hits including a triple and two RBI. Kendall Talley also collected two RBI on the day along with three hits and three walks.

The Cowgirls got solid pitching from both Ashley Vallejo who picked up the game one victory to improve to 8-0 in league play. Vallejo tossed a four hitter in the complete game win while Tate improved to 4-1 in league play with her second SLC shutout of the season in game two.

McNeese wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the opening game, scoring all its runs in the first two innings. In the second game, the Cowgirls broke open a scoreless game with four runs in the third inning then tacked on one in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

Scoring (Game 1)
T1- McNeese took advantage of a Nicholls error to take the early lead (McN 1, Nich 0)
T2- A single to right by Willingham scores pinch runner Toni Perrin (McN 2, Nich 0)
T2- A fielder’s choice by Seneca scores Cross (McN 3, Nich 0)
B4- Nicholls gets on the board with an unearned run (McN 3, Nich 1)

Scoring (Game 2)
T3- McNeese broke open a scoreless game with four runs on four hits (McN 4, Nich 0)
T6- Crislyne Moreno scored on a fielding error (McN 5, Nich 0)
T7- RBI singles by Jil Poullard and Moreno scored two more runs (McN 7, Nich 0)