A 3-0 victory over LSU Alexandria on Sunday, earned the Our Lady of the Lake (OLLU) softball team the 2025 Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Softball Tournament championship. The Saints completed the season sweep, also winning the RRAC regular season title. OLLU stormed through the tournament, outscoring the opposition, 31-5 in four games including a pair of shutouts.
The Saints, who were the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed began play with a 15-0 with over the University of the Southwest on Thursday before taking down Houston-Victoria by a score of 8-3 on Friday.
Saturday would be the first of two games between the Saints and the tournament’s No. 2 seed Generals of LSUA. A five-run third inning for the Saints turned out to be the difference as they took down LSUA 5-2 to earn a spot in today’s championship game. The Generals took down Texas A&M San Anotonio earlier today to setup a rematch against OLLU.
OLLU got their offense going in the championship game after Yezenia Perez singled to start the second inning. Perez would go first-to-third on a double down the left field line by Ava Hernandez. Alyssa Garcia put the Saints in front with a sacrifice fly, making it 1-0 through two complete.
The Generals’ best scoring chance came in the top half of the sixth after a leadoff walk and single to put two runners on with no outs. A sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position, giving LSUA a chance tie or take the lead. Hernandez came up huge for the Saints in the circle as she struck out the next two Generals batters to end the threat and keep the Saints on top heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Caitlin Casas lead off the sixth for the Saints and drew a walk. Hernandez recorded her second hit of the game, a single that sent Casas to third to put Saints at the corners. After Hernandez stole second, Garcia struck again, this time singling up the middle to score Casas and Hernandez to add two insurance runs for the Saints.
A leadoff single for LSUA in the top of the seventh gave the Generals life, but the Saints’ pitching and defense stepped up again as Hernandez induced a 6-4-3 double play to take the wind out of the sails for LSUA. A diving catch by Lexie Escamilla in left field ended the game, securing the Saints’ second Tournament Championship in the last three seasons.
The Saints await the NAIA Softball selection show on Wednesday, May 7 at 5:00 p.m. CT. OLLU was named one of the 10 host sites for the 2025 NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round, which will be played from May 12-15.
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