LAKE CHARLES, La. – To finish out the Cowgirl Challenge, Lamar University softball came up short against tournament hosts McNeese in a 4-2 defeat. Despite outhitting the Cowgirls, nine runners left on base haunted the Cardinals in the end.
 
McNeese got off to a hot start in the bottom of the first loading the bases, but Emma Wardlaw was able to force a groundout to get out of the jam. The Cowgirls would break through in the third, however, with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to give them a 2-0 lead. LU and McNeese would each see two runners get on in the fourth inning but no runs come across.
 
Big Red would get on the board in the top of the fifth with a two-out RBI single from Jayne Sepulveda to cut the deficit in half. McNeese would immediately respond with back-to-back home runs in their next two at-bats, but double plays by the Cardinal defense in the fifth and sixth innings would prevent further damage. After a Cameron Niedenthal RBI single in the top of the seventh, LU managed to bring the go-ahead run to the plate but would leave runners stranded at the corners.
 
Sepulveda led the Cardinals with three hits on the day including an RBI single while Tucker also chipped in two herself. Mikaila Kenney picked up her first hit of the season as a pinch hitter while Niedenthal's one hit was an RBI single in the seventh. Veronica Harrison and Audrey Brown each had singles as well.
 
Wardlaw got the start after pitching in Friday's game but got tagged with the loss after three innings of work allowing two runs on four hits with a walk and a hit by pitch. Makayla Valle pitched an inning of relief allowing two runs on two hits with two walks while Madison Guidry held the Cowgirls scoreless in her two innings on the mound allowing one hit with a hit by pitch.
 
LU has a quick turnaround as they head to Houston for a doubleheader against Texas Southern on Tuesday with games at 2 and 4 p.m.