No. 3 Lamar Advances to Southland Tournament Championship
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LAKE CHARLES, La. – No. 3 Lamar defeated No. 5 Stephen F. Austin, 5-3, in the Southland Conference Softball Tournament back-draw semifinals Friday morning at the Cowgirl Diamond in Lake Charles, La. With the win, the Cardinals advance to the championship game to play top-seeded tournament host McNeese.
Lamar got on the board first with two runs in the bottom of the first. The first coming off an error with bases loaded, the second from a single RBI from sophomore outfielder Brittany Rodriguez. In the second, the Cardinals added two more runs as junior catcher Brynn Baca stole second and later came home after junior first baseman Ashley McDowell was caught stealing.
In the sixth, Ladyjack junior third baseman flied out to score senior outfielder Heather Hollingsworth. Lamar responded later in the inning when senior shortstop Stephanie Meeuwsen tripled to right field, scoring Rodriguez.
Down by four with two outs in the seventh, SFA sophomore second baseman Autumn Holloway hit a single two-RBI. However, the rally was cut short as junior shortstop Courtney Chambers was hit by ground ball running to third.
The Cardinals allowed three runs and five hits in the game behind junior pitcher, newcomer of the year Ciara Luna, who pitched a complete game, improving to 17-8 on the year. The Ladyjacks’ offense was led by Holloway who recorded three hits and two RBIs.
SFA starting pitcher, sophomore Makayla Sikes took the loss, falling to 8-13 on the year. Sikes only tossed for 1.1 innings before Callee Guffey came into the game in relief to retire 11 straight.
Lamar (35-21, 18-9 Southland) will play in this afternoon’s championship game against No. 1 seed McNeese (41-12, 23-4 Southland). The Cowgirls took the regular-season series against the Cardinals and defeated them 8-4 Thursday afternoon in the winner’s bracket semifinals.
SFA’s season comes to an end as the Ladyjacks finish with an overall record of 28-29 and 13-13 league record.
The Southland title game is now slated for a 3 p.m. start today with a possibility of a second game for the tournament championship. The 11th game would be played in the event that McNeese lost in the title game forcing a second game for the tournament championship, upholding the double elimination format. Game 11 start time is to be determined.
The winner of the Southland softball tournament receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
For more information on the tournament, including a link to
live stats, please visit
Southland.org. For updates and the most current information throughout the tournament please follow the Southland Conference on twitter at SouthlandSports and use the hashtag #SLCSoftball.
The championship round will be an exclusive presentation of ESPN3, available via
WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. Chris Mycoskie, Assistant Commissioner of Television and Electronic Media for the Southland Conference, will handle play-by play for all games. Former University of Houston outfielder Sydney Gerbracht will join him for the championship as the color analyst.