May 8, 2008

Final Stats

SAN MARCOS, Texas - It is safe to say that all of the drama of day one of the Southland Conference Tournament saved itself for the night cap when Nicholls defeated longtime conference rival Texas-San Antonio 3-2 in 10 innings.

So many heroes emerged for Nicholls in the game as seniors Kat Harrell and Amy Thibodeaux combined to score all three runs with all coming on solo homeruns. Thibodeaux hit two solo shots to not only become Nicholls' all-time career leader in homeruns with 30 and the single-season leader with 14, but her first homer tied it up to send it to extras and her second proved to be the game winner.

And the sensational performance by senior Krystalin Ensminger in the circle was just another x-factor in the victory. Ensminger tallied a total of 139 pitches in the ten inning showdown and only allowed six hits and one earned run. She also struck out three while only walking three as she improved to 10-12 on the season.

With the win, Nicholls is headed to the semi-finals to face No. 2 seed Texas-Arlington (27-21) tomorrow at 4 p.m. in Bobcat Field.

"I'm just so proud of my entire team. We had a lot of people step up today and lay their hearts on the line. I just can't stress how much these kids wanted to win. Like I said before, they feel like they have something to prove," said head coach Jenny Parsons.

In the win, the Colonels (30-27) had three runs on eight hits while committing three errors in the contest. The Roadrunners (25-25) put forth two runs on six hits while having three errors in the field as well.

It didn't take long for the Colonels to get on the scoreboard as senior Kat Harrell continued her tirade with a leadoff homerun over the leftfield fence to take the 1-0 lead.

UTSA made the score even in the bottom of the second when the Roadrunners capitalized on an error by junior Danielle Clayton that allowed Kelly Cato to score from third. Cato led off the inning with a double to leftfield and reached third on a wild pitch by Ensminger.

The Roadrunners added one more in the bottom of the fourth when Cassie Miller hit a solo homerun to give UTSA the 2-1 lead. The score remained that way until the top of the seventh.

In the top of the seventh, Thibodeaux smacked one over the leftfield wall to tie the game at two apiece. Both teams remained scoreless through the top of the tenth when Thibodeaux hit a monstrous shot over the centerfield fence that left no doubt in anyone's mind in attendance that it was gone. The solo blast was all the Colonels needed as Nicholls' defense did the dirty work in the bottom of the tenth to retire UTSA in three straight at bats.

Leading the Colonels at the plate was Thibodeaux with her 2-for-4 performance with two homeruns, two runs and two RBIs. Putting together 1-for-5 performances were Harrell, junior Kodi Butler, sophomore Audrey Wood and senior Rachel Pugh, while sophomore Nicole Smith went 2-for-5.

Tomorrow's first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game can be heard on the radio locally at 640 AM KTIB and fans can follow the game live statistically via GameTracker on www.geauxcolonels.com.

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