March 1, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - The Colonels struggled to score runs as the Mavericks scored five in each game to win 5-1 in the first contest and 5-0 in the second to take both games of Saturday's doubleheader.

In the first game, Nicholls (6-11, 1-4) only run came on a homerun by senior Amy Thibodeaux to centerfield in the bottom of the sixth while Texas-Arlington (5-9, 2-3) picked up runs in the first, third and fourth innings to prevail. It was Thibodeaux's sixth homerun of the season as she finished the contest 1-for-2 with a RBI.

The Mavericks win was powered by a three run fourth inning, which two of those runs came when Brittany Stevens singled down the right field line to bring home April Clougherty and Samantha Chumchal due to a throwing error by Audrey Wood. Kati Jones followed up with a single to centerfield that scored Stevens to round out the inning.

UTA's Laura Jones picked up the win in the circle as she went the distance allowing six hits and one run while fanning seven. Tabbed with the loss for the Colonels was senior Krystalin Ensminger as she threw 3.2 innings allowing eight hits and five runs while only striking out two. Senior Jessica Barksdale took her place in the circle in the fourth inning, and pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.

The Colonels had six hits in the first game with two of them belonging to senior Kat Harrell as she went 2-for-3 with a double. After today's games, Harrell is just two hits shy of becoming only the second player in Nicholls' softball history to have 200 career hits. Junior Danielle Clayton, senior Rachel Pugh, and true freshman Whitney Roan each had a hit in the loss as well.

The Mavericks' good fortunes at the plate carried over in the second game as they pumped out five runs on six hits while only leaving four runners on. Highlighting the second game for UTA was pitcher Cara Hulme as she picked up her first win of the 2008 season by throwing all seven innings, only allowing four hits, and fanning 11 in the win. Hulme also helped her own cause in the circle as she finished 2-for-3 batting with two runs scored and one RBI.

Picking up her first loss in the circle of the season was Wood as she threw six innings and allowed five runs on five hits. Wood only recorded two strike outs as she fell to 2-1 in the circle on the season.

Of the Colonels four hits in the second contest, Harrell accounted for two of them as she went 2-for-3 with a stolen base. Junior Kodi Butler and sophomore Leah Bland were credited for the other two as Butler went 1-for-2 and Bland finished 1-for-1.

Nicholls will be back in action tomorrow at Noon in the Colonels Softball Complex to finish up the three game series against Texas-Arlington. Fans can follow the game live statistically on the internet at www.geauxcolonels.com by clicking on the GameTracker link.

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