LAKE CHARLES, La. –  Pinch hitter Kaylee Lopez laced an RBI double with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to give top seed McNeese a 2-1 win over fifth seed A&M-Corpus Christi in Game Four of the 2023 Southland Conference Softball Championship on Wednesday afternoon.
 
McNeese moves to 42-14 on the season and will face off against the winner of the Southeastern/Northwestern State game at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. A&M-Corpus Christi is now 24-23 overall and faces the winner of the HCU/Nicholls matchup at 11 a.m. Thursday in an elimination contest.
 
The game was a scoreless duel between two top pitchers until the top of the fourth. The Islanders’ Alexandria Torres reached on an infield single, advanced to second on an groundout and came home on an errant throw to give A&M-Corpus Christi a 1-0 lead.
 
The Cowgirls tied the game up in the bottom of the fifth when Reese Reyna hammered a solo homerun off of the scoreboard in left field to make it a 1-all contest.
 
McNeese earned the victory in the bottom of the seventh after an Alayis Seneca infield single and a Reyna walk. Lopez was inserted into the lineup and smashed a double through the left side to give the top seed the 2-1 win.
 
For McNeese, Reyna reached base in all four appearances with two hits including the homer and two walks. Seneca also had two hits. Whitney Tate moved her record in the circle to 16-4 on the year, giving up only one unearned run on two hits in a complete game effort, walking two and striking out one.
 
For A&M-Corpus Christi, SLC Pitcher of the Year Primrose Aholelei struck out 11 in 6.1 innings, but also allowed five hits and six walks. Alexandria Torres and Sidney Campion earned the Islanders’ only two hits of the game.