Box vs Southern
Box vs Oklahoma State

HOUSTON – The Nicholls State University softball team wrapped up their six-game slate in the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic on Sunday at Cougar Softball Stadium, coming away with a 6-3 victory over Southern before falling to No. 22 Oklahoma State 12-3.

Against an extremely competitive field, Nicholls (4-6) finished the weekend with two wins and four losses. Three of their setbacks came against nationally-ranked Oklahoma State and LSU, and they were also knocked off by Houston, who was 5-0 in the classic.

Nicholls squared off against Southern in the first game and would give starter Ashton Bennett (2-2) a six-run cushion after two innings. The Lady Jaguars (1-9) were able to cut the deficit in half in their final at-bat, but came up short as the Colonels won 6-3.

Bennett (2-2) threw her fourth complete game of the season, giving up one earned run on eight hits while striking out two.

Brittany Marcet led the offense, driving in four runs on three hits. Marcet hit her first career home run in the first which gave the Colonels a 2-0 lead. Ashley Ray added a pair of hits in the contest while Tori Lay, Tsade Joubert, Jackie Burri, and Kat Angeles each had a hit.

With Nicholls up 2-0 in the second, the Colonels would add four more to push to lead to six. Megan Gaspard drove in the first run on a fielder's choice, and an error by Southern made it 4-0. Marcet would cap off the inning with a two-run single to left.

Southern added a pair of unearned runs in the third, and scored one run in the seventh to make the final 6-3.

For the final game, Oklahoma State (8-2) piled up 16 hits in the contest to come away with a 12-3 victory.

In the loss, Ray continued to swing a hot bat for the Colonels by hitting home runs in the fourth and fifth innings. The junior from Lafayette had a great weekend at the plate, hitting 10-of-21 with four dingers and 10 RBIs.

Oklahoma State's Simone Freeman held Nicholls to four hits in seven innings, surrendering the two homers by Ray and singles by Marcet and Whitney Roan.

Katie Moulder (1-3) took the loss, giving up five runs on nine hits in four innings of work. Carlee Winklemann tossed the final three innings, giving up five earned on seven hits.

The Colonels are back in action on Wednesday when they head to Baton Rouge to take on Southern University.