Junior outfielder Katie Lacour (above) was one of the two Lady Lions on the 2015 Southland Conference Softball All-Tournament Team.
The Lion’s Roar / Elizabeth Brown
The Lady Lions’ Softball team attended the Southland Conference Tournament in Natchitoches. Their first game was May 6 against the Lamar University Cardinals. The Cardinals (25-26) beat the Lions (21-29) 3-1 in the opening game.
Junior outfielder Katie Lacour was 3-for-3 with a run scored. She added to her list of school records. Lacour had her 44th run of the season, matching the school record set by Misty Wagner in 1998. Her three hits moved her career total to 201, breaking the school record of 200 set by Heather Sherrill from 2006-09.
Lacour also scored on an RBI, by fellow teammate and shortstop Sydney Booker. Booker, one of the 25 finalists for NFCA Division 1 National Freshman of the Year, ran her team-high RBI total to 47.
Junior pitcher Taylor Bishop held Lamar to only one run. Bishop was out-matched by Lamar freshman Laura Napoli, who kept the Lady Lions to five hits.
The Lady Lions led in the bottom of the first inning. Lacour started the team with a single, then moved to second on a pitch and scored on an RBI single by Booker. This put the Lady Lions in the lead 1-0.
In the second inning, Lamar began with a double by freshman Sable Hankins, a bunt single by Brynn Baca and a walk by Marissa LeJune leading to loaded bases. However, Bishop pitched two outs, keeping the Lady Lions in the lead 1-0.
Lamar came out in the end with a win of 3-1, putting Southeastern to face McNeese State for the elimination game the next day.
On day two of the tournament, the Lady Lion’s faced McNeese State University at 1:30 p.m. on May 7.
Senior pitcher Spencer Adkinson threw a complete-game one-hit shutout defeating McNeese 5-0.
Booker led her team at bat with a 3-for-4 day, hitting a home run and driving two runs, running her team-high RBI total to 49. Megan Moore, Amber Sather and Mychal Truxillo also drove in a run to help the Lady Lions to a victory.
The Lady Lions led with a hit in the top of the first inning. Freshman outfielder Kinsey Nichols, Lacour, Sather and Truxillo all had walks in a run against MSU pitcher Emily Vincent. Lacour scored her season school record 45th run of the season to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Lions added to their lead in the top of the second inning when catcher Carlie Whittington drew a walk and scored an RBI single by Booker. This gave the Lady Lions a bigger lead of 2-0.
Adding to their score, the Lady Lions had a double RBI in the fourth inning. Sather hit the ball into left field for the first run of the inning. Moore followed that up with a single to give the team a 4-0 lead.
Booker finished off the scoring in the sixth inning with a home run with two outs, allowing the Lions to clutch a victory 5-0. Booker also has a team-high of eight home runs for the season. Adkinson allowed a pair of walks in the final two innings to claim her second shutout of the season.
With the Lady Lions shutting out McNeese, they played again at 8 p.m. facing Northwestern State University. The Lions took an early lead in the top of the first. Singles by Lacour, Booker, Moore and Truxillo resulted in a 2-0 lead.
Though the Lady Lions had a threat in the third inning, those would be the only runs the Lady Lions would score for their final game of the season. Their loss Thursday ended a record-breaking season for the Lady Lions.
Lacour ended the season with single-season school records with 46 runs and 89 hits, while setting a single-season school record with a .484 batting average. She is also the school’s career leader with 203 hits and 99 runs scored after her junior season.
The Lady Lions were knocked out of the conference tournament finishing the season 22-30 overall.
For more information on Lady Lions softball, visit lionsports.net.