by HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana senior infielder Mahalia Gibson (MS Choctaw) hit two home runs to back up an efficient pitching performance by seniors Rachel Hayes and Lacey Hill, as the Lady Lion softball team powered past defending Conference USA Tournament champion Louisiana Tech for a 7-1 non-conference victory Tuesday evening at North Oak Park.
Southeastern improved to 3-0 with Tuesday’s win. Louisiana Tech, a 2017 NCAA Regional participant, fell to 1-5 overall.
Gibson led a nine-hit Southeastern attack, as the Hattiesburg, Mississippi native’s two long balls resulted in a game-high four RBI. Junior first baseman Rebecca Skains drove in two runs for the Lady Lions, while senior catcher Carlie Whittington added an RBI of her own.
Hayes and Hill (2-0) combined to hold the Lady Techsters to four hits in the win. Hayes tossed the first three innings, while Hill came in and closed out the game with four innings of shutout relief.
“We were very pleased with Lacey and Rachel and their ability to set up hitters tonight,” Southeastern head coach Rick Fremin said. “We did an excellent job of not backing down and being aggressive early at the plate. It was nice to see us come out with a balanced attack.”
A pair of walks allowed Louisiana Tech to mount the first scoring opportunity in the top of the first inning. However, Hayes kept the Lady Techsters off the board, striking out sophomore catcher Marilyn Rizzato to end the threat.
Southeastern was faced with the challenge of scoring off LTU junior ace Krystal De La Cruz (0-2), the reigning Conference USA Newcomer of the Year, who was a first team All-CUSA and third team All-Region selection a season ago. After junior centerfielder Jazlyn Crowder robbed SLU senior outfielder Kinsey Nichols of an extra-base hit for the second out of the bottom of the first inning, Gibson, herself the reigning Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year, deposited a 3-2 pitch over the centerfield fence to stake SLU to a 1-0 lead.
SLU would add to the lead and chase De La Cruz from the game in the bottom of the third inning. The speedy Lady Lion duo of senior outfielder Maddie Edmonston and junior shortstop Jaquelyn Ramon beat out back-to-back infield singles to open the frame.
After Nichols bunted them both up a base, Gibson cleared the bases and ended De La Cruz’s evening with a mammoth shot well over the left field fence, giving SLU a 4-0 cushion. Through the first three games of the season, Gibson is hitting .778 with two home runs and nine RBI.
“Mahalia is seeing the ball very well and I’m really happy with where she’s at right now,” Fremin said. “She’s doing an excellent job being selective and waiting on her pitch. We’ve been really pleased with the leadership our seniors have shown early this season and Mahalia plays a big part in that.”
Louisiana Tech, which won 38 games in 2017 on the way to the C-USA West Division championship, would not go away quietly, however, loading the bases with no outs to force Hayes to give way to Hill in the circle. Hill limited the damage, however, as a sacrifice fly by junior infielder Berkeley Calapp was all LTU could manage and SLU maintained a 4-1 lead.
Southeastern put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fifth inning with timely two-out hitting versus LTU freshman reliever Jensen Howell. Nichols started the rally with an infield single, then the Lady Techsters pitched around Gibson to put a pair of runners on. Skains cleared the bases with a triple off the left centerfield fence, then scored on an RBI single through the left side by Whittington to give the Lady Lions a 7-1 advantage.
Hill stranded two more runners in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs in the seventh, LTU junior first baseman Taria Page tried to leg out a double, but was thrown out by Edmonston for the game’s final out.
Southeastern will close out its home stand hosting the three-day, five-team Lion Classic II, which features a field of SLU, Detroit, Omaha, Belmont and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Lady Lions will face Omaha at 3 p.m. and the league rival Islanders at 5 p.m. on Friday. On Saturday, Southeastern will face Belmont at 1 p.m. and Omaha at 3 p.m. Sunday’s final day of the tournament sees SLU taking on Detroit at 12 p.m.
