HAMMOND, La. – No. 5 Lamar and No. 1 Southeastern navigated some adversarial weather on the opening day of the Southland Softball Championship – Hammond Bracket, moving to the winner's bracket in impressive fashion. Meanwhile, No. 4 UIW and No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi set a win-or-go-home matchup Friday to keep their postseason hopes alive. 

Game 1 — (5) Lamar 7, (4) UIW 5

UIW and Lamar were pitted against one another in the Bracket Round for the second straight season. UIW had the edge through five innings, but Big Red found a major offensive spurt late. 

Ayla Gonzales dealt the first blow for UIW, driving in a run by virtue of an infield single in the second. Southland Freshman of the Year, Isabella Flores, had the counter in the next frame, plating the tying run drawn from a UIW fielding error. 

A defensive stalwart marked the proceeding innings until UIW’s Madison Dorrow rocketed a two-run home run over the left field wall, putting the Cardinals ahead 3-1. Lamar showed it’s resiliency once again, answering with a Roxy Thompson triple that scored two before Player of the Game Gracee Hess put the Cardinals ahead for good.

Lamar added three more insurance runs in the seventh to keep UIW at distance until the final out.

Game 2 — (1) Southeastern 8, (8) A&M-Corpus Christi 0

The Islanders opened the game with a Zoey Stewart triple, seconds before a lightning delay put the game on pause for a near six-hour stretch. Coming out of the intermission, Southeastern ace and Southland Pitcher of the Year Hallie Burns had her game going. Burns went 5.0 scoreless innings, fanned 10 batters and conceded only two hits, earning the Lions' 22nd shutout on the season, the most in the country. 

Offensively, the Lions were up to their usual tricks on the basepaths. Shelby Morris tagged from third on a sac fly before Chloe Magee stole hom on the same play. That sequence gave Southeastern a 2-0 lead that they would hold until the fourth. Morris and Shenita Tucker each drove in an RBI to add to the lead in that frame, but the exclamation point would soon follow. 

Katie Lott gave the Lions their final necessary separation in the fifth, blasting a three-run home run over the green wall in left field at North Oak Park. Behind Burns' strong night on the mound, Southeastern closed out A&M-Corpus Christi in six innings.