ULM softball’s first break from the conference slate came against Southeastern Louisiana, and it didn’t go as planned. After seven consecutive games on the road, the Warhawks dropped their first game back in Monroe since March 2.
The Warhawks’ (19-11) lone sixth-inning run was one run too little, allowing the Lions (22-6) a slim 3-2 victory on Wednesday evening in Monroe.
With a runner on second plate at the bottom of the second, ULM had the chance to tie the game late. Unfortunately for the Warhawks, two groundouts and a strikeout left a runner stranded, sending the Lions back to Hammond with their fourth-straight win.
“They’ve always been really, really great, and so trying to prepare for them and then knowing that we got South Alabama coming in, it’s tough,” coach Molly Fitchner said.
Half of ULM’s hits on the night came from Lourdes Bacon. She delivered a single in the first and another in the third to record her 10th game of the season with multiple hits. In addition to the first hit of the night, Bacon scored the first run of the night on a sac fly from Andie Edwards.
Between the four scoreless innings for ULM, the Lions scored a run through the third and fourth each to take the lead from the Warhawks. A solo home run in the sixth put the Lions in position to take a three-run lead to the end of the match.
Meagan Brown delivered the second and final ULM run in the bottom of the sixth inning off of an RBI groundout by Maryssa Zenzen. The Warhawks have been without teammate Morgan Brown, for most of March. Morgan is one of the team’s premier batters with the fourth-most RBIs despite missing the past three weeks. While Fitchner said she was out for a medical procedure, she did not give a timeline for a return this season.
This week, the Warhawks remain at home for a Sun Belt Conference series against the Marshall Thundering Herd. The first of the three games begins on Thursday at 5 p.m.
