This past weekend, the Lady Lions softball team competed in a doubleheader with the Incarnate Word Cardinals. Saturday afternoon, the doubleheader took place at North Oak Park and the first game started at noon, while the second began at 2 p.m. Lady Lions won both games against the opposing team, which stretched their winning streak to four games total.
For game one, Incarnate Word took the lead in the first inning. With all bases loaded, Southeastern freshman pitcher Kristen Herbert singled into the right field and scored a run while senior Jessie Browne misplayed a hit, which gave Incarnate Word a 3-0 lead.
Lady Lions got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning. A single was gained by sophomore outfielder Amanda Livaudais and an RBI single by senior shortstop Megan McCollum; however Southeastern still trailed with a score of 3-1.
Incarnate Word took the lead in the beginning of the sixth inning, but Lady Lions did not give up. Katie Lacour, Vanessa Eng and McCollum loaded bases, while sophomore designated player Amber Sather drew a walk to force in a run. Browne managed a sharp single, which tied the score to 4-4. Junior shortstop Spencer Adkinson kept the score tied as junior designated player Teresa Lemos led with a single at the end of the ninth inning. Herbert made a throw at first base, which put all runner at a corner with not one teammate out. With the help of a fly ball to the center by freshman outfielder Mychal Truxillo, Lemos managed to score a game winning run.
Aside from winning, Head Coach Pete Langlois had some overall thoughts from the first game.
“It doesn’t go to the extra innings if we don’t make the middle mistakes early in the first inning,” said Langlois. “But we’ll take a win. A win’s a win and the way we did it…We kind of got everybody going and all that good stuff. It was a good win for us.”
For game two, Lady Lions began with taking the lead in the first inning. As Eng reached her single, she also scored on a sacrifice fly by Browne.
In the second inning, the advantage was pushed to 3-0 with singles from freshman catcher Lacey Fritz and Lacour putting out runners with two outs.
Incarnate Word tried to make a comeback, but it was soon ended by the end of the third inning. Fritz and freshman outfielder Brittany Tschoepe managed consecutive RBI singles, while Lacour added a double down the right field line which added another run. Eng added a run of her own. Then, McCollum walked on which loaded all bases as Sather was hit with a pitch and added a run of her own. After three innings, a two run single was gained by Browne and the score was pushed up to 10-0.
In the fourth inning, Incarnate Word took the board putting the score at 10-1. At the bottom of the fourth, Southeastern scored as junior third baseman Megan Moore led with a towering shot over the left field fence. Lady Lions score was pushed to 11-1. By the beginning of the fifth inning, Lady Lions had secured their win.
With two wins this Saturday, Langlois took note of some improvements and strengths that the Lady Lions showcased.
“We got to make one here and there. You might’ve had a missed signal or something. We just have to do better,” said Langlois. “They showed the character to fight back and to get a win and not come up disappointed. To be able to do it with the freshman and a couple of kids who hadn’t gotten enough playing time like Teresa Lemos who started us off with a very well earned single.”
Lady Lions softball team will return to North Oak Park to face Ole Miss on Monday at 3 p.m. for a doubleheader.
With more games to play in the future, Langlois has a plan to keep up the winning streak.
“For the continuum of the season, we plan to build up on this win and earn a couple more,” said Langlois.
Live stats and more information regarding the Lady Lions softball team can be viewed at LionsSports.net