Box Score

THIBODAUX – The Nicholls State University softball team (13-36, 5-21 SLC) held a 2-0 lead going into the seventh behind six strong innings from senior pitcher Carlee Winkelmann, but Northwestern State University (31-21, 14-13 SLC) scored five runs in its final at-bat as the Lady Demons defeated Nicholls, 5-2, on Senior Day on Sunday afternoon at the Colonel Softball Complex.

Nicholls honored its three seniors – Winkelmann, Tori Lay and Whitney Roan – before the game and the trio went on to play a major role in the Colonels' early lead. Before being tagged with five runs and six hits in the seventh, Winkelmann (4-11) shut out NSU, holding the Lady Demons to six hits. She went on to earn the complete game, giving up five earned with three strikeouts.

Roan was 2-for-3 at the plate and pushed the Colonel lead to 2-0 with a RBI single in sixth, scoring Megan Gaspard who tripled to leadoff the inning.

Although Lay went hitless on the day, she made several great plays at second and finished with seven assists.

Nicholls scored its first run of the game in the opening frame when Ashley Ray hit her Southland Conference leading 16th home run of the season over the left center fence. Ray was 2-for-3 and brought her weekly totals to a blistering .682 batting average, five homers and 12 RBIs in the Colonels' seven games.

Leading 2-0 in the seventh, Nicholls looked to be on its way to spoiling Northwestern State's postseason hopes before the Lady Demon offense exploded for six hits. Three straight singles loaded the bases before Winkelmann fanned her third batter of the game. Two more base hits evened the game at 2-all, and then Kayla Cole broke the tie with a groundout to second. Kylie Roos capped off the inning with a 2-run single to right center, making the score 5-2.

In the bottom half, Kelee Grimes (10-7) made easy work of the Colonels as she struck out the side in order, finishing the day with 11 strikeouts in a complete game five-hitter.

NSU was led by Ashlee England, who was 3-for-3 with two doubles, while Samantha Roberts and Cole had two hits each.

For Nicholls, Ray and Gaspard both extended their hitting streaks to 11 games. Ray is now hitting .371 on the year while Gaspard, who's hit safely in 22 of her last 23 games, is at a .345 clip.

The Colonels will wrap up 2011 season next weekend with a three-game set at Stephen F. Austin. Live audio will be available courtesy of ThibodauxOnline.com.