LAKE CHARLES – The clocked hadn't quite struck midnight, but it was close enough as the Southland Conference champion McNeese Cowgirls completed its semifinal win and advanced to the tournament championship game for the fourth straight year with a 6-2 win over Southeastern Louisiana late Thursday night.
The time was 11:12 to be exact when a four-run, sixth inning was started on an RBI single by pinch-hitter
Kaylee Lopez to snap a 2-2 tie and put McNeese on top 3-2. Then with two on,
Alayis Seneca drove the ball past a diving shortstop and to the wall for a two-run triple and a 5-2 advantage. Another run was tacked on when
Reese Reyna singled in Seneca to make it a 6-2 lead.
With the win, McNeese matched its school record wins total and improves to 43-14 on the year. Southeastern (46-13), the No. 2 seed in the tournament, falls to the loser's bracket and will play at 1:30 on Friday against the winner of Lamar and Nicholls, which will kick-off the day at 11 a.m.
The winner of that 1:30 contest will play the Cowgirls in the championship on Saturday at noon where McNeese will have to lose twice.
Starting pitcher
Ashley Vallejo (17-8) threw the complete game to get the win. She allowed two runs on seven hits, walked four and struck out four in the process. SLU relief pitcher Cera Blanchard (17-7) took the loss after giving up four runs on four hits in 3.2 innings.
After a scoreless first, Southeastern got on the board first with a run in the second inning. With two outs, the Lions strung together three straight singles, the third by Maddie Leal to score Madison Raynor and put SLU up 1-0.
The Cowgirls looked to get things going in the bottom of the inning when
Mariana Torres hit a one-out double to the right-center field wall, her first of two doubles on the night, but a great defensive diving grab by SLU center fielder Cam Goodman robbed
Brooke Otto of a possible run-scoring hit. The Lions got the next batter to ground out to end the Cowgirl threat.
McNeese grabbed a 2-1 lead with a two-spot in the third inning.
Seneca started the rally with a one-out infield single to third base and Reyna followed with a nicely placed bunt right in front of home plate for a single as Seneca advanced around to third base.
Chloe Gomez then singled through the left side to score Seneca and tie the game 1-1. Following a Lions' pitching change and the second out of the inning,
Emily Phillips and Torres drew back-to-back walks, Torres freebie scoring Reyna to give McNeese a one-run lead.
Cowgirl center fielder
Erin Ardoin made a run-saving play in the top of the fourth. With a runner on first and two outs in the inning, Southeastern's Goodman blasted a ball into the left-center gap where Ardoin made the grab on the run, preventing the game-tying run from scoring.
Stout defense by the Cowgirls continued in the fifth inning, preventing a potential Southeastern rally.
After a lead-off single by Maria Detillier, Ardoin made another great play, this time in the right-center gap, spoiling an extra-base hit. Then with runners on first and second, SLU grounded into a third-to-first double play to end the inning as the Cowgirls maintained their 2-1 lead.
Southeastern struck in the sixth inning when Audrey Greely hit a lead-off single and Maddie Watson brought her in with a triple to left-center as the Lions tied the game 2-2. A diving catch by McNeese's Brooke in left field on a dying bloop off the bat of Goodman saved the go-ahead run from scoring.
Seneca led the Cowgirls at the plate with a 3-for-4 night, two runs scored and two RBIs. Reese and Torres each collected two hits.
