March 29, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - Nicholls dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Texas-San Antonio falling in the first 8-1 and 8-7 in the second contest to the league's second ranked squad.

The Colonels (16-20, 6-8) were unable to find any run support in the first game as they could only muster one run on three hits while committing four fielding errors. The lone run came in the bottom of the second when Nicole Smith hit a RBI single up the middle to score sophomore Audrey Wood from second. Smith finished 1-for-2 in the loss while Wood was 1-for-3 with a double.

The Roadrunners (18-14, 13-4) had no trouble finding hits in the first game as they scored eight runs on eight hits while playing flawless defensively. Leading the hit parade for UTSA was Danye Holmes with a 2-for-3 performance that included three RBIs.

Picking up the loss in the first game for the Colonels was Wood who threw four innings, gave up seven hits and six runs while only striking out two to fall to 5-2 on the season.

Wood took out her frustration in the second game at the plate as she hit her first homerun of the season that came in light of a bases clearing grand slam in the bottom of the third to take a 6-3 lead in the game. The Colonels, who picked up one in the first before yielding three to the Roadrunners over the course of two innings, scored a total of five runs in the third inning with four of them coming off the bat of Wood.

After the powerhouse third inning, UTSA slowly but surely climbed back in the game as they added one in the fourth to make the score 6-4 and then added three in the sixth inning to take the 7-6 lead.

Nicholls responded in their half of the sixth with a run when senior Rachel Pugh hit her first career triple down the left field line to score Wood from third to tie the game at seven apiece. Wood led off the inning with a roping double to right center, and finished the second contest 2-for-3 with four RBIs, two runs, a homerun and a double.

With the score tied at seven in the last inning of play, the Roadrunners went to work and manufactured a run in the top half of the seventh as Kelly Cato got on base after a fielding error by senior first baseman Amy Thibodeaux. UTSA successfully played small ball as the moved Cato over to second then to third on back-to-back ground outs.

UTSA's Rudi Cantu then hit a hard ground ball up the middle that senior Kat Harrell laid out for and stopped, but Cato was more than half way home and Cantu was just steps away from the first base bag so Harrell was left with no play. Cato scored to give the Roadrunners the 8-7 lead and what proved to be the game winning run as the Colonels never scored in their half of the seventh.

The Roadrunners' Amanda Nikolenko was credited with wins in both contests as she improved to 10-7 after the doubleheader. Nikolenko went the distance in the first game while only allowing one run, and was called upon to relieve Holmes in the second bout in the fifth inning. On the day, she recorded 15 strikeouts while only allowing one run and one walk in nine innings of work.

Getting the loss for the Colonels was sophomore Lacey Gros as she allowed seven runs on five hits in six innings of work while fanning nine to fall to 4-3 on the season.

Standing out at the plate besides Wood and Pugh was junior Danielle Clayton with a 3-for-4 showing that included a homerun, two runs and a RBI. Junior Kodi Butler also had a nice showing at the plate with a 2-for-4 outing and a run scored.

Nicholls will be back in action tomorrow to wrap up the series against UTSA at Noon. The game can be seen live statistically via GameTracker on the Colonels' official athletic website.

######