Final Stats

JACKSON, Miss. – After falling to Jackson State by mercy rule earlier this season, the Nicholls State University softball team returned the favor on Tuesday at the JSU Softball Complex as the Colonels plated six runs in the fourth en route to a five-inning, 11-2 victory.

Megan Gaspard led the way for the Colonels (4-11), going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Leah Andrus chipped in with two hits and Ashley Ray added a double and two RBIs.

Katie Moulder pitched all five innings for Nicholls, giving up one earned on four hits. The League City, Texas native finished the day with three strikeouts.

Following a scoreless first, Andrus led off the second with a triple and then scored on a bunt single by Rachael Hugghins, putting Nicholls up 1-0. In the next frame, Nicholls took advantage of two errors to score a run before Ray hit her fifth double of the season to make the score 3-0.

The Colonels blew the game open in the fourth, scoring six runs on five hits as they batted around the lineup. In the inning, Paige Miller and Kat Angeles had RBI singles, while Andrus brought in a run on her second extra-base hit of the evening, a double that scored Miller for a 9-0 lead.

In the fifth, Gaspard made it 11-0 with a two-run triple before Jackson State finally cracked the scoreboard with two in the bottom half. The Lady Tigers (8-8) tagged Moulder for three hits in the frame, but were unable to come within eight runs as the Colonels claimed their first mercy-rule win of the season.

Nicholls returns to action this weekend in the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational, hosted by Louisiana-Lafayette. The Colonels will start off the four-game slate with a matchup against Stephen F. Austin on Friday at 11 a.m. A live audio broadcast, courtesy of ThibodauxOnline.com, will be available for the game.