Box vs Evansville
Box vs MVSU

HATTIESBURG, Miss – The Nicholls State University softball team split their final day at the Southern Miss Invitational on Sunday, defeating the University of Evansville 5-3 before falling to Mississippi Valley State in extra innings, 6-5 (8), at the USM Softball Complex.

Nicholls notched their first win of the weekend against Evansville (1-7) after falling behind early in the game. The Colonels (6-9) scored two runs in the fifth to grab a 4-3 lead and sophomore Lauren Batiz, who finished the game 3-for-3, drove in a run in the sixth on an RBI double to make the final count, 5-3.

Eight different Colonels had hits on the day which included a leadoff home run from senior Tori Lay in the second inning.

Sophomore Ashton Bennett picked up the win in relief, shutting out the Purple Aces in two innings of work, giving up only a pair of hits.

Trailing 1-0 in the second, Lay's homer evened the score before junior Ashley Ray put the Colonels up one on a RBI groundout. Evansville would answer in their next at-bat, plating two runs to retake the lead, 3-2.

In the Colonel fifth, Batiz and Lauren Jolivette led off the inning with singles, and a walk by Lay loaded the bases with no outs. Mandy Granger evened the score with a RBI ground and Kat Angeles delivered a sacrifice fly to put Nicholls up 4-3. The Colonels added one more in the sixth as they won by the final of 5-3.

In the final game versus Mississippi Valley State (5-5), Ray belted a grand slam to fuel a five-run six inning which tied the score at 5-5, but MVSU would get a two-out walk off single in the eighth to earn a 6-5 victory.

Although just giving up one unearned run, Bennett suffered the loss for the Colonels, tossing 4.1 innings, giving up two hits while fanning two.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the second, the Devilettes used three hits in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. Starter Kim Spivey cruised along until the Colonels rallied in the sixth.

Whitney Roan and Kandace Boudreaux reached base to start the sixth with singles, and an error would load the bases. Ray, coming into the game leading Nicholls with five homers and 16 RBIs, hit the team's first grand slam of the season, quickly cutting the deficit to 5-4. Brittany Marcet, who saw her six-game hitting streak snapped, kept the inning going with a walk, and another error by MVSU led to the game-tying run.

In the eighth inning, Nicholls came up empty in their half before Mississippi Valley State ended the game on a two-out single to left, dropping the Colonels to 0-3 in extra innings.

Nicholls is back in action on Wednesday, March 2, when they head to Mobile, Ala. to take on South Alabama at 5 p.m.