The Lady Colonels softball team executed the Louisiana-Monroe Lady Indians this weekend with a three-game sweep at the Lady Colonel softball field.
With unusually cold and rainy temperatures for a late South Louisiana March, the first game Saturday was postponed and finished Sunday.
Phyllis Guedry, head softball coach, said she was proud of the way the Lady Colonels (14-17, 3-9 SLC) beat the bad weather conditions to sweep Louisiana-Monroe (14-20, 5-10 SLC).
“It was a very long weekend. I am very proud of the way they stuck together as a team,” Guedry said.
Coming into the series against Louisiana-Monroe, the Lady Colonels had lost nine of their last 11 games.
“We had been struggling in the past, but they turned on the jets this weekend and just went after it,” Guedry said.
For the season, the Lady Colonels have a .222 batting average, 1.71 earned run average per game, and are third in the Southland Conference with 213 strikeouts.
Thanks to the pitching of sophomore pitcher Nichole Wagner and freshman pitcher Dione Meier, the Lady Colonels held Lousiana-Monroe to only one score this weekend.
In the first game of the home series, the Lady Colonels defeated Louisiana Monroe 4-1.
Meier claimed the win for the Lady Colonels by striking out 10 and allowing two hits in seven innings.
Guedry said she is proud of the way Meier has pitched and contributed to the team this season.
“She held them down. She had a couple of great performances and that is what we expect from Dionne,” Guedry said.
For the game, the Lady Colonels offense produced five hits, while Louisiana-Monroe managed two.
Junior outfielder Stephanie Sasser and junior infielder Kristi Blanchard led the Lady Colonels with two hits each.
Despite having one hit in the game, freshman first baseman Lindsay Coleman hit a two-run homerun in the third inning.
In the second game, the Lady Colonels defeated Louisiana-Monroe 1-0 thanks to its pitching staff.
Meier struck out eight, walked three and allowed one hit for the contest. Louisiana-Monroe only placed five runners on base.
In the third inning, freshman outfielder Kristina Swart scored the only run of the game for the Lady Colonels.
In the final game, Meier struck out 10 with no walks to lead the Lady Colonels to a 3-0 win.
In the fourth inning, freshman catcher Kacie Braud scored the first run of the game thanks to an RBI by first baseman Lindsey Coleman.
In the fifth inning, the Lady Colonels would put the game out of reach when Swart scored on an unearned run off of a Sasser RBI, and Blanchard scored thanks to a fielding error by Louisiana-Monroe.
For the game, the Lady Colonels managed three runs, five hits and one error in the sixth inning.
Sasser and Blanchard led the Lady Colonels with two hits each, and Coleman had one hit and one RBI. Sasser also had one RBI.
The Lady Colonels continue their season with a weekend series on the road against Northwestern Saturday and Sunday. They will return home to take on LSU April 9 at the Lady Colonel softball field.