Southeastern Louisiana overtakes Jackson State

GULFPORT-- Southeastern Louisiana coach Rick Fremin faced his former team, Jackson State, in the Gulf Coast Softball Classic on Sunday at the Gulfport Sportsplex.

The Lady Tigers led 3-1 after five innings, but Southeastern Louisiana scored eight consecutive runs to win 9-3. The Lady Lions scored five fifth inning runs and three more runs in the seventh to pull away.

"I knew that that would be an emotional game," said Fremin. "I was the head coach at Jackson State the last five years. Those kids wanted to win over there. They've played really hard. We respected what they did."

With one out in the sixth inning, Fremin brought in a pinch hitter - Brittney Wingate - who hit a three-run homer to give the Lady Lions a 4-3 lead.

"Brittney Wingate has the potential; she has a great skill set," said Fremin. "She came in for us against Memphis last night when we were down and pushed runs across with a base hit. I just got her in there, gave her a plan, told her to focus on her last positive result, and she came through again in the clutch. I was really proud of her."

The next batter, Katie Lacour, who hit a triple and scored on a fielding error. Mychal Truxillo would drive in another run with a high bouncing single over the shortstop's head to give the Lions a 6-3 lead.

Jackson State (2-8) loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but a groundout ended the game.

"We played hard to the very last out," said Jackson State coach Darnell Walker. "We didn't make the adjustments at the bats, but I think we still played hard. It's a learning experience. We've got to do the little things that's going to help us down the road. "We knew that it was going to be a competitive game. Hats off to them. They did a great job at the end. We've got to build on this, and hopefully we'll do better going into SWAC play."

The Lady Lions (12-4) finished with 14 hits, led by Lacour with four, followed by Kinsey Nichols, Amber Sather and Truxillo had two each. Jackson State finished with five hits, led by Canessa Swanson with two.

Taylor Bishop (7-1) got the win for the Lady Lions.

This story was originally published February 28, 2016 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Southeastern Louisiana overtakes Jackson State ."