Extra Inning Thriller Ends With Nicholls Loss
Senior Natalie Travasos hit her first career homerun in the game.

Extra Inning Thriller Ends With Nicholls Loss

SAN MARCOS, Texas - The Nicholls State University softball team and UT-Arlington put on a show for those in attendance at Bobcat Field for the Southland Conference Tournament on Thursday with the game being decided in the bottom of the tenth inning on a Brittany Washington RBI single to give the Mavericks the 3-2 win.

The No. 6 seed Colonels (25-21) will face the loser of the No. 1 seed Stephen F. Austin (35-25) and No. 4 seed McNeese State (28-18) game. First pitch for Nicholls next game, barring a weather interruption, is set for tomorrow at 11 a.m., while the No. 3 Mavericks (27-23) will face Texas State at 6 p.m. today.

Suffering the loss for Nicholls was senior Lacey Gros despite only surrendering three runs on 10 hits, and striking out eight. UT-Arlington's Teri Lyles got the win, tossing the complete game and only giving up two runs on five hits, while fanning four.

The Colonels started off the game with a run in first inning via a senior second baseman Natalie Travasos hitting a solo homerun over the left field fence. It was Travasos' first collegiate career homerun, and first as a Colonel. Travasos finished 1-for-4 in the loss.

Nicholls then picked up another run in the top of second to extend its lead 2-0 on a RBI double to right centerfield by freshman catcher Katie Holmes that plated sophomore first baseman Mandy Granger from first. Holmes finished 1-for-4.

UT-Arlington did crack the scoreboard in the bottom of the third with back-to-back solo homeruns by Rebecca Collom and Cara Hulme to tie the game, 2-2. Both solo shots cleared the leftfield wall. The score would remain that way thru regulation, sending the game to extras.

Nicholls best chance to score in extra innings came in the top of the ninth when sophomore outfielder Laine Strickland laced a ball towards the leftfield fence that was a sure fire homerun, however, UT-Arlington's leftfielder Kelsi Kaiser jumped at the wall and made the catch to rob Strickland of what would have been a two-run homerun.

An inning later, the Mavericks loaded the bases with one out and Washington hit a RBI single that lifted UT-Arlington to the extra inning victory.

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