BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University softball team ran its winning streak to six games with a pair of wins on the second day of the Cardinal Classic at the LU Softball Complex on Saturday.
 
The Cardinals (7-2) rallied for a 7-6 win over Alcorn State in their first game of the day before posting a 7-3 win over Texas Southern in LU's second game.
 
"We didn't have our best effort today, but we still managed to get two wins," LU coach Holly Bruder said. "We weren't focused as we should have been. We made too many mistakes. That's something we have to work on. We have to be ready for every game. We can't take any team for granted."
 
Against Alcorn State, the Cardinals fell behind 3-0 after two innings before erupting for scoring five runs on just one hit in the bottom of the third. LU took advantage of three walks and two Alcorn State errors in the inning.
 
Alcorn State scored two in the top of the fifth and one in the top of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead before Stephanie Meeuwsen's two-run double in the bottom of the sixth gave LU the lead for good.
 
It was one of three hits on the day for Meeuwsen, who had been struggling heading into Saturday.
 
"It was good to see Stephanie swing the bat better," Bruder said. "This should give her some confidence."
 
LU starter Laura Napoli worked the first five innings before giving way to reliever Lauren Dannelley to start the sixth with the game tied at five. Dannelley (1-0) got the win in relief, allowing two hits and one run in one-plus inning. After Alcorn State got its first two batters on in the top of the seventh, Dannelley came back in the game to earn her first save of the season and her school-record third of her career.
 
Ashley McDowell, Brynn Baca and Brittany Rodriguez had two hits apiece for LU in the win over Texas Southern in a battle of the two teams who had been unbeaten in the tournament until that point. Kelly Meeuwsen added a two-run double for the Cardinals.
 
LU starter Ciara Luna (4-0) allowed eight hits and three runs, two earned over six innings. Amie Cisneros worked a scoreless inning of relief.
 
"Texas Southern is a good team that can give teams trouble," Bruder said. "We made three errors in the game, which is not acceptable, but we got 10 hits and managed to fight our way through it."
 
The Cardinals look to match the program record of seven straight wins when they face Northern Colorado at 10 a.m. Sunday. Alcorn State and Incarnate Word meet in the final game of the weekend at 12:15 p.m. Sunday.