HAMMOND, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team got off to a hot start, defeating Southern University 10-1 in five innings, but the Colonel offense could only muster three hits in its second game of the Lion Class as Nicholls was shutout 5-0 against St. Louis.

Nicholls (1-1) will continue play at North Oak Park in Hammond with two games on Saturday. The Colonels square off against Louisiana Tech at 12:30 p.m., followed by Jacksonville State at 3 p.m.

In the opener, Nicholls exploded for seven runs in what turned out to be the final inning, fueled by a grand slam by freshman Danielle Phillips. Holding a 3-1 lead, the Colonels used five hits in the frame and took advantage of a pair of Southern errors to take a nine-run advantage. In the bottom half, senior Ashton Bennett closed out her one-hitter with three infield outs, giving Nicholls its 14th straight win over Southern.

Bennett (1-0) gave up a RBI double in the second, but allowed only two runners to reach base the rest of the way and all 10 outs were recorded in the infield. She finished with three strikeouts and added two hits and a RBI.

In the first, Leah Andrus drove in Ashley Bertot, who had two hits to extend her hitting streak to eight games, to give Nicholls a 1-0 lead. After Southern evened the score in the second, Brittany Marcet put Nicholls up 3-1 with a bases loaded two-run single.

Andrus started the Colonel fifth with a double, coming across to score on a single by Bennett. After RBI singles by Paige Miller and Bertot, Phillips put the game away with the Colonels' first grand slam since Feb. 27, 2011.

In game two, St. Louis scored three unearned runs in the first and added two more off another Colonel miscue in the third as three Billikins combined for the shutout, dropping Nicholls 5-0.

Nicholls never threatened in the game will all three hits coming in the final two innings. Haley Parkerson had a single in the sixth, with Andrus and Maggie Bryan recording base hits in the seventh.

Katie Moulder (0-1) suffered the loss for the Colonels, despite a career-high nine strikeouts. Moulder surrendered eight hits in seven innings, giving up no walks or earned runs.