Box Score LAKE CHARLES, La. – The University of the Incarnate Word softball team faced off against the Lamar Cardinals for the fourth straight game to open up the Southland Conference tournament on Thursday night.
 
Victoria Altamirano got things started quickly hitting a lead off home run on the very first pitch. This was Altamirano's seventeenth home run of the season, the most of any Cardinal in UIW softball history.
 
In the third inning the Cardinals forced Lamar into some trouble, loading the bases early in the lineup. Lamar walked three batters in the inning, sending Jaisy Caceres across the plate extending the UIW lead.
 
All the while Larissa Jacquez was putting on a masterclass in the circle retiring the first 13 batters she faced. The perfect game was broken up when LU got a hit in the fifth. However, Jacquez wouldn't waiver, not giving up another hit for the remainder of the game.
 
The Cardinals were not done on offense as Altamirano added yet another home run to her resume with a solo shot in the fifth. In the sixth Bryanna Fuentes hit an RBI single making it 4-0 with just three outs remaining. Larissa and the UIW defense went three up, three down, earning a date with McNeese on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
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