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Southeastern Louisiana stuns LSU in opening game of Baton Rouge Regional

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•05/16/25
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[Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]

Located about a 30-minute drive from Baton Rouge, Southeastern Louisiana knew it had an uphill climb against the powerhouse LSU Tigers in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Softball Tournament. A big one.

No matter. After falling behind 3-0, the Southeastern coaching staff had a message for the team: Stay aggressive.

“Basically he was telling us top half,” catcher Cydnee Schneider said. “She’s more of a riseball pitcher and we were getting popped up a little bit, me too. So he was telling us just go top half, trust ourselves, trust system and just be who we are and trust that we can do better.”

The team answered right away. Southeastern plated three runs in the top of the fourth inning to knot the contest at 3-3. It was little bit little.

First a double to left center field to score one run. Then a groundout to plate another. Finally, a wild pitch that allowed the third run to come home. All knotted up.

Then the game bogged down. Neither team could push one across.

Not until Schneider stepped to the plate with a runner on first and two outs in the top half of the seventh inning. The momentum seemed to have shifted back to LSU. But Schneider was ready.

She jumped on the second pitch of the at-bat and took it to deep right center field. It was enough for Maria Detillier to score all the way from first, putting Southeastern up 4-3.

Despite allowing runners to reach first and second in the bottom half of the seventh inning, Southeastern slammed the door shut. Game over.

“I’m so excited. That was awesome,” Schneider said. “Literally that was such a surreal feeling. And now to go play Nebraska tomorrow, literally this is like storybook ending. I’m so grateful to God and everything he’s given me.”

With the win, Southeastern advances to take on Nebraska in the winner’s bracket of the Baton Rouge Regional. LSU, of course, will remain lurking.

Southeastern isn’t looking to get comfortable after the big win, either. They want more.

“I’m just going to go in there, I’m so excited just to even play them,” Schneider said. “See some girls that I met when I was younger or in high school. I’m so excited to play against them and show them what we have at Southeastern.”

And of her team helping her push through to the win on Friday, Schneider gushed. She couldn’t praise them enough.

“It’s just these people are my family. They are in my back pocket and they’re so supportive of me,” she said. “(Maddie Watson), she was talking to me throughout the game, telling me that I’m on it, on it. Same thing with Brilee Ford, they’re always helping me out throughout the game and I just know that they’re in my back pocket the entire time. I’m so grateful for them.”

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