The Southeastern Louisiana Lions descended on Tiger Park as the No. 4 seed in the Baton Rouge regional—and by Saturday night, they’d ripped the lid off any doubt that they weren’t Louisiana’s fiercest force. Charging into their first-ever 50-win season, the Lions stunned No. 1 seed LSU for the second straight day in an 8–7 heart-pounding thriller that propels them into Sunday’s regional final against Nebraska at 2 p.m. To punch their ticket to the program’s first super regional, they’ll have to dethrone Nebraska twice.
LSU clawed back to knot the game three separate times, the final equalizer ripping through the stadium air on a seventh-inning single by Jadyn Laneaux. But the Lions refused to bend. In the bottom of the seventh, they struck like lightning on LSU’s own turf. Colleen Kulivan led off against Sydney Berzon—who would take the loss—smashing a single and darting to third when first baseman Tori Edwards flubbed Kailey Dixon’s bunt for her third error of the night. Shenita Tucker then drew a tense walk, setting up the force at the plate, and Kulivan thundered home on Shelby Morris’s slow chopper to second baseman Sierra Daniel. Pandemonium ensued as the Lions walked off the Tigers in front of LSU’s stunned home crowd.
All game long, Southeastern’s surgical small-ball assault—precision bunts, sneaky steals and perfectly timed hit-and-runs—kept LSU’s defense teetering on the brink. It started in the very first inning when the Lions manufactured four unearned runs without a single hit leaving the infield. Morris drew a leadoff walk off starter Tatum Clopton, crept to third on Chloe Magee’s bunt that third baseman Danieca Coffey misfired (Coffey’s second error in two games against these Lions), and sprinted home when Maria Detillier chopped to shortstop Avery Hodge, whose late, desperate throw to the plate was thrown down. Catcher Maci Bergeron compounded the collapse by clutching the ball instead of tagging Detillier, who bolted to second. Cydnee Schneider then hammered a one-hopper back to Clopton, who panicked—only glancing at third and letting the lead runner slide in safely while Schneider reached first. With the bases juiced, Clopton intentionally walked Brilee Ford to force in run one before bowing out. Ashley Vallejo entered and punched out Maddie Watson, only to walk Kulivan with the bags full and drip another run across. Dixon’s grinding groundout capped the four-run eruption and sent LSU reeling down 4–1.
LSU managed silence for two frames before staging a furious counterattack in the fourth. Bergeron reached on yet another error, and McKenzie Redoutey’s booming double to the gap rolled Bergeron to third. Consecutive singles by Sierra Daniel and Laneaux drove in two and chased Southeastern starter Macie LaRue. Walker High School alum Lainee Bailey—fresh off a no-hit performance on Friday—took the mound, only to yield a leadoff walk to Avery Hodge and unleash a wild pitch that let Daniel dart home, knotting it at 4–4.
But this Lions squad refused to flinch. In the fifth, they struck back for a 6–4 lead when Watson ripped a double and darted into scoring position on a Laneaux overthrow, then slid home on Kulivan’s force play. LSU wasn’t done yet, clawing to within one in the sixth on Jalia Lassiter’s two-run double. Yet as the final out loomed, Southeastern summoned every ounce of grit—culminating in that savage, roaring walk-off that kept their historic season alive.
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