April 27, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - With overcast skies and rain looming in the area, Nicholls and McNeese State successfully got two games in on Sunday as the Cowgirls won both, 3-1 and 4-2 in the Colonel Softball Complex.

Before the game, seniors Jessica Barksdale, Krystalin Ensminger, Kat Harrell, Rachel Pugh and Amy Thibodeaux were honored along with their parents on the field as they played their last home games of their collegiate careers. They each had their numbers painted on the field in foul territory around home plate prior to this weekend's games.

The Colonels (25-27, 12-14) started the scoring off in the first game as they tacked on one run via a RBI single to right field by sophomore Audrey Wood that scored junior Kodi Butler from third to take the early 1-0 lead.

The Cowgirls (21-33, 14-12) bounced back in their half of the second as they added one to the scoreboard on a RBI single to right center by Megan Beard. Beard's knock brought home Holly Long who doubled to lead off the inning.

The score remained knotted until the top of the fifth when McNeese State scored two when Tiffany Ritchie hit a two RBI single up the middle to take the 3-1 lead that would hold for the win. The single brought home Whitney Corbello and Molly Guidry before Ritchie was thrown out at second base trying to extend her single.

Picking up the loss in the circle for the Colonels was Wood as she threw 4.0 innings allowing three earned runs and seven hits while only striking out two and walking none. Dubbed with the win was the Cowgirls' Bethany Stefinsky as she allowed five hits, one run and fanned 11. Wood fell to 6-6 on the season as Stefinsky improved to 7-10.

In the second game, McNeese State opened up with a one-run first inning as Jenny Clay hit into the fielder's choice to bring home Lindsey Langner to take the early 1-0 lead.

The score would remain that way until the top of the third when the Cowgirls added two more to make the score 3-0. The first of two runs came courtesy of a fielder's choice by Long that scored Langner, while the second score was credited to Beard who hit a RBI single to rightfield that scored Liz Morvant.

McNeese State continued to find ways to score as they added another run in the top of the fourth to take the 4-0 lead. The run came in light of a RBI single by Corbello that brought home Guidry.

Nicholls cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore Nicole Smith hit a RBI double to the leftfield wall to score sophomore Karla Troxler from second. Thibodeaux led off the inning with a roping double to left center, and was replaced on the base path by Troxler.

The Colonels added one in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore Danielle Clayton hit a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield that scored Harrell from third. Harrell led off the inning with a triple to right centerfield. However with bases loaded and one out, the Colonels could not bring anymore home to end the inning.

Neither team scored for the remainder of the game, and McNeese State went on to win. Picking up the loss in the circle for the Colonels was Ensminger who tossed three innings allowing seven hits, four earned runs and one walk. Ensminger fell to 8-13 on the season. The Cowgirls' Stefinsky picked up the win improving to 8-10 through four innings of work in the circle.

The Colonels will play next weekend at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (21-27, 11-16) to close out their regular season.

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