The McNeese Cowgirls and Southeastern Louisiana Lions met in the third game of a three-game championship series to decide the winner of the Southland Conference and who would represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament. McNeese jumped out to a 4-0 lead and later led 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, but Southeastern scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the game and capture the Southland title.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Things got rolling for the Cowgirls from the jump as Jada Munoz got a single and stole second before Reese Reyna drew a walk and Samantha Mundine singled to score Munoz and put McNeese ahead 1-0. Southeastern answered with a pair of baserunners, but could not execute enough to get the run in.
In the second, McNeese kept having offensive success by loading the bases before Nyjah Fontenot drove in the Cowgirls’ second run of the winner-take-all game.
Southeastern got a two-out triple in the third in hopes of cutting into the lead, but once again, Maddie Taylor shut the door on the Lions and kept SELA off the board.
Rylie Bouvier added to the Cowgirls’ advantage in the sixth inning as she took a pitch from Addison Contorno to straight center field for a solo home run, extending the McNeese lead to 3-0. Brylie Fontenot reached on a fielding error before a single from Delaney Dunham to put a pair on with just one out in the inning. Kassidy Chance followed with a single of her own to load the bases. Fontenot grounded out, but it was enough to score a fourth run to further space out the lead.
Southeastern cut into the McNeese lead in the sixth with a two-run single from Cydnee Schenider to make it a 4-2 game. Later in the inning, Brilee Broussard pinch ran for Schenider and came around to score on a wild pitch to make it a 4-3 game and continuing the trend this series has brought with closely competitive games. McNeese was able to induce a double play to get out of the inning, still holding a one-run lead.
Mudine singled to start the seventh and stole second before moving over to third on a groundout by Bouvier. Sarah Allen then hit a sacrifice fly to score Mundine and add a cushion to the lead at 5-3.
In the bottom of the seventh, down to their final out, Shelby Morris hit an RBI double to make it a 5-4 game and put the Lions in position to tie the game. Chloe Magee then relieved the game-tying run with a single to score Morris and knot it up at 5-5 before Brilee Ford singled to walk it off and send Southeastern into the NCAA Tournament with a 6-5 win.
BIG NUMBER: 2
For the second straight season and just the second time in history, Southeastern is headed to the NCAA Tournament after defeating McNeese.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Brilee Ford
Ford came in as a pinch hitter during the game and went 1-2 at the plate, including the walk-off winner.