BEAUMONT, Texas – As the conference tournament nears, Lamar University softball gets a sneak peek of the championship venue this weekend as they travel to play Southeastern Louisiana in their final Southland series of the year. Friday features a doubleheader with games at 4 and 6 p.m. with the series finale coming on Saturday at 12 p.m. All three games can be streamed on ESPN+.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In a showdown of Cardinals, LU dropped two of three at home against Incarnate Word but came out victorious on Senior Day. Cameron Niedenthal's first of three hits on the day was a solo shot in the first inning while Brooke Davis finished things off with a walk-off RBI single to end their penultimate game at the LU Softball Complex in style.
 
KEY STORYLINES
Over the weekend, the Cardinals officially clinched a spot in the Southland Conference tournament which takes place in Hammond, La. starting on May 7. LU currently sits in the five seed with the possibility to move up as high as second and as low as sixth depending on upcoming results. With this being the final conference series for Lamar, Big Red will likely be waiting around next weekend for scores to come in as they learn their fate.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Jayne Sepulveda has strung together a nine-game hit streak, the longest by a Cardinal since Jade Lewis recorded hits in ten straight games in 2020. Her single to keep the streak alive came in the seventh inning of LU's walk-off victory against UIW which saw her to score the winning run.
 
Makenzie Wright has started to put things together at the plate reaching base in four of her last five games including a career high three hits on Saturday. She launched a three-run blast against Houston for her second home run of the year and tacked on an RBI double in the series finale against UIW.
 
Emma Wardlaw remains on track to shatter various Lamar softball freshman pitching records as she continues a stellar debut season. Her 1.83 ERA is on pace to be the lowest by a Lamar pitcher since the program was resurrected in 2013.
 
OPPONENT INFO: Southeastern Louisiana (39-10, 14-4)
Time: Friday at 4 and 6 p.m., Saturday at 12 p.m.
Series Record: SLU 17-12
Last Meeting: SLU 8-0 (5/12/23)
 
The Cardinals will get a preview of the conference tournament venue as they travel to face the Lions, the team who ended their season last year. SLU currently sits second in the Southland but are coming off a series loss at Nicholls last weekend.
 
The SLU offense features four of the top six batters in the conference in terms of batting average as all nine players with at least 44 starts this year for the Lions are batting over .300. Ka'Lyn Watson leads the team at .400 along with an OPS of 1.061 while sitting just one steal behind Lamar's own Shenita Tucker for the conference lead.
 
On the mound, the Lions lead the Southland in most team stats including ERA (1.82), opposing batting average (.216), hits allowed per game (5.2) and shutouts (13). Their staff is led by Cara Blanchard and Ellie DuBois who are the top two pitchers in the conference in terms of ERA with marks of 1.32 and 1.47, respectively.