Lady Jags Fall to SLU, Split With Valley

The Southern University Lady Jaguars softball team (7-12 overall, 7-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference) went to battle against Southeastern Louisiana University and the Devillettes of Mississippi Valley State University.
On Wednesday, March 26, the Lady Jags, who only have 34 scheduled games, were defeated by the Lady Lions of SLU 5-2.
“The way the scheduling was done this year, the Southwestern Athletic Conference went from an eight-game conference setting to only four,” said head coach Nancy Marshall. “Then there are budget issues, if you do not go to a school, they typically do not come to you.”
Back-to-back home runs by SLU’s Karin Smith stymied Southern’s attempt at victory over the Lady Lions (11-18).
The Lady Jags deliberately gave Smith an intentional walk on her next at-bat.
SLU got out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning with Smith’s first home run off the Jaguar’s starting pitcher Samisha Bledsoe (6-7).
The Lady Lions then shot the score to 5-0 in the third inning with four runs in the third, started by lead hitter Ashley Walker.
The third inning also saw Smith’s second homerun of the night sending Kelli Gautreau across home plate.
Offensively, the Lady Jags were not able to compete with the pitching proweress of Lady Lions pitcher Natalie Dunagan (4-3), who only gave up two hits, while striking out three.
The Lady Jags then went on split against MVSU in a doubleheader Saturday.
After dropping Saturday’s first game 4-3, the Lady Jags picked up a 15-5 win highlighted by a nine-run second inning.
In game one, the Lady Jaguars got out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning before allowing MVSU to gain the lead and the win.
In game two, Lady Jags’ catcher Tranessa Zepherin lead the pack with three runs. Meanwhile, in the winning effort, two runs were scored by the following: pitcher Samisha Bledsoe, shortshop Jayme Roberts, outfielder Robyn Lewis, second baseman Stephanie Mulder and outfielder Symoane Mizell each scored two runs for the Jaguars.
The Lady Jaguars pitching staff consisting of Bledsoe and Kristi Roberts only allowed two hits in the contest.
The Lady Jaguars are currently ranked number two in the SWAC West Division, behind Prairie View A&M (14-15 overall, 11-1 SWAC).
“I’m very pleased with the performance of my team thus far,” said Marshall. “We have a very long team that has accomplished a lot in a very short amount of time. But, we still have a lot of room to grow.”
The Lady Jags will take on the Lady Tigers of Grambling State University in two doubleheaders beginning at noon both April 4 and 5, at the Lady Jags softball field.