BEAUMONT, Texas--McNeese softball stranded nine base runners, six in scoring position including three on third base in its 4-0 Southland Conference series finale loss to Lamar Saturday. 
 
McNeese falls to 13-12 overall and 1-2 SLC while Lamar improves to 13-10 overall and 2-1 in the SLC.  The win for Lamar marks the first SLC series win over McNeese since the conference began sponsoring softball in 1983.
 
The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead after the second inning with single runs in the first and third inning then added a single run in the fourth and closed out their scoring with a single in the sixth.
 
The Cowgirls missed an opportunity to score in the first inning with two outs when Munoz drew a walk and went to third on a single by Samantha Mundine.  A ground out to third ended the Cowgirl threat.
 
In the second inning, Rylie Bouvier tripled to left with one out but was left stranded following a strikeout and a fly out to end the top half of the inning.
 
In the fourth inning Reese Reyna was left on second and in the fifth and Kassidy Chance was left on second, both with two outs and the Cowgirls failed to get the hit they needed to bring either runner home.
 
The Cowgirls had one last chance in the seventh to avoid the shutout when Chance double to center with one out, but the next two batters grounded out to second and popped out to third to end the game.
 
McNeese ended the game with five hits with Chance going 2 for 4 with a double.  Lamar also had five hits in the game.
 
Kadence Williams (1-4) took the loss after giving up two runs on three hits and three walks in 3.0 innings.  Ryann Schexnayder relieved Williams in the fourth and allowed two runs on two hits, two walks and one strikeout in 3.0 innings.
 
McNeese will host Minnesota at 1 p.m. next Tuesday, March 11 in a game that will be played in Beaumont, Texas at the Lamar softball Complex.  The following day, McNeese will travel to Louisiana Tech for a 4 p.m. game then will return home to host Northwestern State March 14-15 in a Southland Conference series.
 
McNeese Notes
• McNeese stranded nine base runners, six in scoring position and three on third base.
• McNeese picked up five hits, two of which were extra base hits
• Kassidy Chance had two of the five Cowgirl hits including a double
• Rylie Bouvier had the other extra base hit, a triple in the second inning
• Kadence Williams fell to 1-4 on the season with the loss
• The conference series loss to Lamar is the first since losing an SLC series at Southeastern in 2023.
• The last time McNeese lost two games in a season to Lamar was in 1985. It's also the first time Lamar has shutout McNeese in back-to-back games with its 7-0 loss to the Cardinals on Friday and today's 4-0 loss