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HOUSTON – A rough first inning that included three infield singles and a pair of HBU errors staked Southeastern Louisiana to a 7-0 lead after half an inning and that was enough as the Lions held on to beat HBU 8-4 on Saturday afternoon at Husky Field.
 
HBU (12-19, 3-12 SLC) starter Emily Mueller retired the leadoff batter of the game on a groundout to third but the next six batters all reached base for Southeastern Louisiana (19-19, 8-7 SLC) before a sacrifice fly by the Lions' Maddie Edmonston provided the second out of the inning but left the Huskies trailing by five. Kalyn Watts then doubled for the Lions to drive in another run and chase Mueller from the game. A bunt single by Jaquelyn Ramon brought the seventh run of the inning across the plate but reliever Shae Bibby induced a pop-out by Kinsey Nichols to end the inning at 7-0.
 
HBU got on the board in the bottom half of the inning thanks to Cecilia Bauer's team-leading fifth home run of the season to make it a 7-1 ballgame.
 
In the top of the third, Edmonston led off the inning with a bunt single followed by a bunt single from Carlie Whittington to put runners on first and second. A fielder's choice resulted in everyone being safe and loaded the bases with no outs. Ramon hit a grounder to second that Demi Janak fielded cleanly and threw home but the runner beat the throw on a bang-bang play at the plate but catcher Heidi Jaquez threw down to third to catch the runner off the bag for the first out of the inning. Bibby stopped the damage there by getting a pop-up and a fielder's choice to end the inning with the score at 8-1.
 
HBU again answered in the bottom half of the inning with Nicole Shedd drawing a two-out walk and then scoring on a Kassie James single to right-center, bringing it to 8-2.
 
Bibby held the Lions scoreless the rest of the way, sending the Huskies up for their final at-bat trailing 8-2. Bauer singled to left to open the bottom of the seventh before Megan Hiers hit into a fielder's choice, with Bauer being retired at second. Shedd then hit a sharp grounder to third and the Lions attempted to get the out at second but the second baseman was unable to handle the throw, giving HBU runners on first and second. SLU pitcher Alley McDonald misplayed a ground ball off the bat of James, leading the bases for the Huskies. Libby Brown hit a grounder to third to score Hiers with Shedd getting thrown out at third for the second out. With runners on first and second, Brooke Bushman lined a single into center to bring pinch runner Amber Lotz around to score from second and cut the lead to 8-4 but that was as close as HBU would get.
 
Bauer, a senior, was 2-for-4 in the game with a run scored and one driven in thanks to her round-tripper. Bushman and Hiers both also collected two hits in the game, all of them singles, with Hiers scoring one and Bushman driving in one.
 
Mueller took the loss in the circle, falling to 5-12 for the season. She allowed seven runs, three earned, on five hits in just two thirds of an inning. Bibby, a freshman, threw six and a third innings in relief, scattering seven hits while allowing just the one earned run while striking out one and walking one.
 
The Huskies will hit the road for their final non-conference games of the season on Tuesday when they visit Prairie View A&M for a doubleheader in Prairie View, Texas beginning at 1:00 p.m.