May 9, 2008
Final Stats
SAN MARCOS, Texas -
Nicholls is headed to the Southland Conference Championship for the first time since 2003 on the heels of an inning 5-2 victory over No. 2 seeded Texas-Arlington on Friday afternoon.
"When you think that they can't play harder, they do. I know I have said it after every game so far, but they are playing like they have something to prove. I'm just so proud of them and the heart that they have shown," said head coach Jenny Parsons.
So far the No. 6 seeded Colonels (31-27, 15-14) have knocked off No. 7 seeded San Houston State (30-31, 15-15), No. 3 UTSA (25-25, 20-10) and No. 2 UTA (27-22, 20-10) today. They await the winner of No. 1 Texas State (35-17, 25-2) and No. 4 Stephen F. Austin (33-23, 18-11) who play this evening.
Nicholls got the scoring started in the first inning when senior Kat Harrell walked to leadoff the game, and proceeded to steal second and reach third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, junior Danielle Clayton hit a sacrifice grounder to second base to score Harrell for the 1-0 lead.
Texas-Arlington got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second when Katie Jones singled up the middle that allowed Whitney Simpson to score from second for the tie.
After a scoreless third, the Colonels added another run via a leadoff homerun by sophomore Audrey Wood over the leftfield fence. Wood also was credited with the win after coming in to relieve sophomore Lacey Gros in the bottom of sixth, and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings. Wood improved to 8-6 on the season.
UTA tied it up in the bottom of the sixth with a solo homerun by Amanda Swofford over the leftfield fence to make the score 2-2. Neither team scored in the seventh, and the Colonels headed to extras for the second game in a row.
In the top half of the eighth, Harrell continued to show off her strong bat as she hit a bomb over the centerfield wall for the Colonels to take a 3-2 lead. Then junior Kodi Butler followed up with a double to right center, and was brought home on the ensuing at bat when Clayton hit a RBI single up the middle for NICH to take the 4-2 lead.
The last and final run of the Colonels' eighth came on an error by UTA off the bat of junior Nicole Smith that sent Clayton racing home from second for the 5-3 lead to round out the scoring.
Riding the momentum of their at bat, the Colonels went into the field needing three outs and got the first on the first at bat when Wood froze UTA's Brittany Washington on a called strike three. Even though April Clougherty followed up with a single, Wood mowed down the final two batters by way of strikeout and groundout.
Leading the Colonels at the plate in the win was Harrell with a 2-for-3 performance with a RBI, two runs scored and a homerun. Following her were Butler and Wood with 1-for-3 showings that included a run for each while Wood had a homerun and a RBI. Having 1-for-4 outings were Clayton and Smith with Clayton having two RBIs and a run scored.
The Colonels will play tomorrow at 4 p.m. for the SLC Championship. The game can be heard locally on 640 AM KTIB and be followed live statistically on the internet via GameTracker at www.geauxcolonels.com.
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