Softball: Southeastern completes series sweep of Nicholls

THIBODAUX, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team continued its roll, taking both games of Saturday’s doubleheader to complete a Southland Conference series sweep of Nicholls at Swanner Field.

SLU (20-13, 10-2 Southland) won its fourth consecutive league series, while Nicholls fell to 8-16 overall and 1-11 in league action.

Southeastern opened the day with a 5-3 extra-inning victory. Aeriyl Mass broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run single in the top of the eighth inning. MC Comeaux (7-5) allowed one hit in three innings of relief to earn the win.

In the nightcap, Madison Watson homered and drove in a pair of runs to lead a 13-hit SLU attack in a 7-4 win. Heather Zumo (12-2) struck out eight on the way to earning the victory in the circle.

Game One – Southeastern Louisiana 5, Nicholls 3
SLU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Lindsey Rizzo reached on a fielder’s choice and eventually scored on a sacrifice bunt by Kelci Bodin. Nicholls evened the game with an unearned run off Lady Lion starter Sophie Hannabas in the bottom of the frame.

The game wouldn’t be tied for long, as Audrey Greely hit her second home run in as many games over the left centerfield fence to give Southeastern a 2-1 advantage. An RBI by Cameron Goodman in the top of the sixth inning padded the Lady Lion lead to 3-1.

Nicholls scored runs in the sixth and seventh to force extra innings. Cameron Beal led off the SLU eighth with a single, then Greely drew a walk to put a pair on. After a Goodman sacrifice bunt, Mass hit a single up the middle to clear the bases and give SLU a 5-3 advantage.

Comeaux made it stand in the bottom of the eighth. After allowing a two-out walk to Kelsey Johnson, she forced Corynn Major to ground out to secure the series win for the Lady Lions.

Game Two – Southeastern Louisiana 7, Nicholls 4
Southeastern took the early lead in the top of the second inning. Watson led off the frame with her first home run of the season off Nicholls starter Taryn Westbrook (2-4). Greely doubled in another run, before Rizzo closed out the frame’s scoring with an RBI single to put the Lady Lions up, 3-0.

Nicholls answered with three runs in the bottom of the third to tie the score. Southeastern answered quickly, as Mass followed an RBI single by Goodman with an RBI double in the top of the fourth inning. Another run scored on a Nicholls error to give SLU a 6-3 lead it would never relinquish.

Madisen Blackford, who was 5-for-8 on the day, led off the top of the seventh with a double and scored on an RBI single by Watson to put SLU ahead, 7-3. Nicholls cut the lead to 7-4 in the bottom of the seventh, but Ellie DuBois struck out Samantha Gwiazda to complete SLU’s second series sweep of 2021.

Up Next
SLU hosts Mississippi State at 4 p.m. on Monday at North Oak Park. The game will be seen on ESPN+.

TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail and text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.

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.

CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events (softball, baseball, football and basketball), effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.