THIBODAUX, La.  – The Nicholls State University softball team held a two-run lead after four innings, but Lamar scored a run in the fifth and sixth frames to send the game into extra innings before scoring the game-winning run in the ninth to win the conference series with a 4-3 victory at the Colonel Softball Complex on Sunday.

Nicholls falls to 8-13 on the year and 1-2 in conference. The Colonels took Saturday's opener against Lamar (10-12, 1-2) before losing the next two as Nicholls has dropped six of its last seven.

Ashton Bennett (6-5) tossed all nine innings for Nicholls and added a RBI single in the first, one of two runs for the Colonels in the opening frame. Trailing 1-0 after a solo homer by Lamar's Candyce Carter, Nicholls tied the game when Leah Andrus drove in a run on a RBI double. Bennett's single then gave the Colonels the lead.

In the fourth, Haley Parkerson extended the lead to 3-1 with a one-out single with the bases loaded, but Lamar's Shannon Millman would get out of the inning without further damage.

The Lady Cardinals cut the lead to one in the next inning, but Bennett returned the favor by leaving the bases loaded.  Lamar evened the score in the sixth on a double by Tina Schulz and looked well on its way of plating the winning run in the seventh before Bennett got out of a jam. With no outs and the bases loaded, Andrus fired a putout to home to keep the game tied, followed by a 1-2-3 double play to end the threat.

Both teams went scoreless in the eighth before LU's Carter gave Lamar the lead in the ninth with her third hit of the day. The Colonels put two on with one out in their at-bat, but Millman retired the next two for the one-run victory.

Nicholls finished with nine hits, getting two each from Andrus, Ashley Bertot and Alaina Guidry. Bennett gave up three earned runs on 11 hits and struck out five.

Nicholls wraps up its homestand on Tuesday against Alcorn State. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.