HAMMOND, LOUISIANA – The University of the Incarnate Word softball team came close to sweeping Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, but instead found themselves on the losing end of 5-4 and 2-1 decisions at North Oak Park.

In the opener, the Cardinals (3-19, 0-5) trailed 3-1 before coming back in the late innings to take the lead.  Christy Trevino (San Antonio/Brandeis HS) put the team on the board in the third inning with a solo home run.  In the sixth inning, Alex Alonzo (San Antonio/Smithson Valley HS) drove in a run with a single and Shelbi Swenson (Elgin/Elgin HS) tied the game with a ground out to score a run.

The Cardinals took the lead in the top of the seventh inning when Swenson came through with a two-out single to score Alex Zepeda (Sinton/Sinton HS).  In the bottom of the seventh, Kinsey Nicholls singled with one out and stole second.  She scored on Sydney Bookers' triple sending the game to extra innings.  UIW loaded the bases in the eighth, but could not score.  The Lions (9-15, 4-1) also loaded the bases in the eighth inning with two outs and Nicholls brought in the winning run when she was hit by a pitch.

UIW finished with 10 hits in the game as Zepeda, Alonzo, Trevino and Kristin Hebert (Humble/Atascocita HS) each had two hits.  Hebert pitched a complete game and took the loss after allowing 14 hits and five runs while striking out two.  Tori Stamper earned the win for Southeastern by tossing 2.2 innings of relief while allowing four hits and one run.  Booker finished with three RBI's while Katie Lacour and Vanessa Eng each had two hits.

The second game of the day was a pitcher's duel between UIW's Brooke DuBois (Pearland/Pearland HS) and Stamper.  DuBois scattered three hits and a walk with no earned runs in 6.0 innings. 

The Cardinals took the early lead when Trevino drove in Swenson with a double in the top of the second inning.  Unfortunately, UIW only managed one hit over the final 5.2 innings of the game.

The Lions took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when they took advantage of a pair of UIW errors.  The second came with two outs and two on and was a dropped fly ball that allowed both runners to score.  It was all the Lions would need to get the win.  Stamper allowed four hits, one run and no walks while striking out two to earn her second win of the day.

The teams meet on Sunday at noon for the series finale.
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