LAFAYETTE, Lousiana — Southern Nazarene Softball kicked off their 2024 season in Lafayette last weekend, competing in four games across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Storm recorded two wins (vs Tuskegee, 9-3; vs Delta State, 5-3) and two losses (Texas A&M Kingsville, 4-8; Union, 1-2) over the weekend, beginning their season 2-2 overall. 

Game 1

Southern Nazarene (2-2, 0-0 GAC) started off the weekend strong against Tuskegee, battling back from a three-run hole to finish off the Golden Tigers (1-1, 0-0 SAIC) with nine unanswered runs across six innings. In the bottom of the first, Hailey Evans woke up the Storm offense with a single to center field with bases loaded, plating Emma Green and Kennedi Morelock. Colorado Christian trasnfer, Mikayla Oaks, had a successful first at-bat in the Storm uniform, singling to the catcher to bring home Swearingen and Evans, taking the 4-3 lead. 
Closing out the lead-off inning, Sydney Sundbye flew out to center field to send Oaks home and SNU snatched the 5-3 heading into the second inning. 

The Storm kept the Golden Lions off the scoreboard in the second and went to work in the bottom half of the inning. Evans had the hot bat once again in the second inning, singling to left field to score Swearingen once more. SNU proved to be the dominant squad the rest of the game, with Maddie Riley stealing home in the third inning, and then Morelock capping off the scoring with a single to centerfield good for 2 RBIs. 

Those last three runs shot SNU up to a 9-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Tuskegee was unable to make a comeback run in the final inning, leaving SNU to cruise by with the 9-3 season-opening win. 

The pitching highlight of the game came from SNU newbie Ashley Larson who recorded the win with 4.2 innings and SNU returner Maddie Southerland, who kept the Golden Lions off the scoreboard in the final two innings, recording four strikeouts. 

Game 2 

The Storm's next matchup with Delta State (0-3, 0-0 GSC) was a bit closer in score, with both teams scoreless until the fourth inning. Sundbye kicked off the scoring with a single to second base that moved Riley home for the 1-0 lead. Delta State responded in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three unanswered runs from a passed ball, an SNU error and a single to left, pushing them ahead 3-1. 

Both teams grew cold in the fifth and sixth innings, until SNU caught fire from a Macy Stewart bomb good for two RBIs, tying the game at 3-all. The Storm continued their offensive heat after Swearingen's sac fly that plated Kristen Mullendore and Evans' single scored Morelock, shooting up to a 5-3 lead in the final inning for the victory. 

Katelyn Woodard pitched the last four innings for the Storm, allowing SNU to gain back the lead while adding on two strikeouts to her stat list. 

Game 3 

SNU faced a tough matchup on Saturday, chipping away at a four-run deficit to tie the ballgame with Kingsville in the final inning to send the game into extra innings. Unfortunately for the Storm, the Javelina's (3-1, 0-0 LSC), cracked a walk-off grand slam to steal the win, serving SNU their first loss of the tournament. 

TAMK dug SNU into a 4-0 hole in the third and fourth innings from two singles and a double. The Storm finally got their offense going in the fifth inning when Green singled to third base, sending Noah Dodson home for the 4-1 trail. 

The Javelinas were stuck still with those early four runs, allowing SNU to go to work in the seventh inning. Ashley Larson made things interesting after her 2-RBI homer to put the Crimson Storm within one at 4-3. Oaks followed with the game-tying single to send the ballgame into an extra inning. 

SNU faced a tough pitching round in the top of the eighth from TAMK, unable to record a single hit. This left a game-winning opportunity up to the Javelinas and they followed suit, stunning SNU with a walk-off grand slam to end the game victorious with a final 8-4 score. 

Game 4 

The Storm's final ballgame of the Mardi Gras Classic was with the Union Bulldogs (2-2, 0-0 GSC), and they faced another tough matchup, losing by just a single run, 2-1. 

Union got on the board first in the second inning after a single that scored one run. The Storm couldn't answer in the bottom half of the inning and the Bulldogs added another run in the top of the third, snatching the early 2-0 lead over SNU. Evans continued to shine at the plate after her dominant performance earlier in the weekend, getting walked with bases loaded that gave Allyson Haessly the trot home. 

That was the last time that either team scored, leaving it to a battle in the circle. Between Union's Emily Claire Felders and SNU's Larson, they each pitched the last 4.1 innings and allowed not a single run the rest of the game. Larson kept the Bulldog's from seeing another run the rest of the contest, only allowing five hits, but recording four strikeouts in the process. 

Unfortunately for the Storm, Union's two early runs were all it took to serve SNU another defeat in Lafayette, claiming the final 2-1 win. SNU did finish 2-2 on the weekend, starting the season off at .500 while picking up two great season-opening wins. 

 Up Next

The Storm will be back in the Sooner state the weekend of 9th and 10th as they compete in the UCO/OC classic. Official game days and times can be found at https://snuathletics.com/sports/softball/schedule.