The sounds of the Lamar softball team cheering for their senior, Brooke Davis, echoed throughout the LU Softball Complex, as she stepped foot into the plate. It was senior day. With two runners on base and one out, Davis swung the bat for the walk-off hit to bring her teammates home.
The Lamar softball team took down the University of the Incarnate Word, 5-4, April 20, at the LU Softball Complex.
Lamar got off to a hot start scoring three in the first inning thanks to a lead off triple from Shenita Tucker. Jayne Sepulveda would then bring Tucker home with an RBI groundout. Senior Cameron Niedenthal continued the scoring with a home run. An RBI double from catcher Mackenzie Wright gave Lamar a 3-0 lead.
UIW responded in the third inning, but Cardinal pitcher Emma Wardlaw would only allow one run. UIW scored again in the fourth making the game 3-2.
Lamar fired back with a run thanks to a Roxy Thompson sacrificial RBI that brought Davis in, making the score 4-2.
LU errors would cost them two runs in the sixth inning. The first run came from a throwing error which allowed an infield single that turned into a run for the leading UIW batter. The second run came on a fielding error putting the batter on base, which eventually became a run after an RBI single, making the game 4-4.
With two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, LU’s Davis knew she needed to produce to win the game, and with the second pitch she singled to left center to bring in Jayne Sepulveda for the walk-off hit.
“I knew that it was the bottom of the seventh, the girls worked their butts off to get on the bag,” Davis said. “I knew that I needed to score so we can win the game.”
Davis is one of four seniors in the team who were honored and says she’s overwhelmed knowing this is her last year.
“It’s overwhelming, but I’m just taking it day by day, and not thinking too much about it.”
Head coach Amy Hooks gave credits and said she was proud of all her seniors for their performance on senior day.
“All four of them stepped up when they had to,” Hooks said. “I think what’s really cool is that the rest of the team wanted to (win) it for them. So it was a total team win. It is senior day, but at the end of the day, it’s a Lamar Cardinal softball win. So I’m really proud of them and just the fight that they had all day long.”
With the win, the Lady Cardinals are 26-20 overall and 12-9 in the Southland conference where they sit at fifth place. The Lady Cards play the Southeastern Lady Lions, April 26-27, for the last conference series of the season, in Hammond, La, and can be watched on ESPN+.
Coach Hooks said the Lady Cards need to “keep this momentum” to beat the Lady Lions, and continue to the tournament.
“The bats were hot today in this game,” Hooks said. “We need to take that into Hammond. We know they’re going to score runs. We just got to score one more than they do. I just want them to feel this. I want it to feel good going into Southeastern and then continuing on into the tournament.”
