Final Stats BATON ROUGE, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team used a five-run third inning to pull away from the Southern Lady Jaguars as the Colonels claimed a 10-5 victory on Wednesday night at Lady Jaguar Field.

The win improves Nicholls' record to 10-24 on the year, while Southern remains with only one win for the season (1-27).

The Colonels cranked out 11 hits in the victory and took advantage of seven walks issued by Southern. Nicholls' top two hitters in the batting lineup, Haley Parkerson and Taylor Terrio, accounted for two hits each while Brooke Morris added two at the ninth-spot. Brittany Marcet and Caitlyn Carroll led the Red and Gray with two RBIs apiece.

Nicholls wasted no time in grabbing the lead, scoring two runs in the first on a Marcet groundout and a RBI single down the left field line by Laura Neil. Parkerson and Terrio came across the plate, reaching on a leadoff walk and a single to left.

Southern got one back in the bottom half on a RBI double by Danielle Jackson, but the Colonels took a 7-1 lead with its big third inning. With two down, Cari Spain started the spurt with a RBI double to center, bringing home Danielle Phillips who reached on a leadoff walk. Following another walk, Carroll cleared the bases with a double to left, making the score 5-1. Morris and Parkerson finished off the scoring with RBI singles.

The Lady Jaguars cut the lead to 7-3 after their at-bat in the third, and the teams each added a run in the fourth. For the Colonels, the two-out magic continued as Kayla Prater singled to left for an RBI.

In the fifth, two more runners crossed the plate for the Colonels as Terrio and Marcet recorded RBI singles. Southern scored one in the fifth to make the final 10-5.

Sophomore Hannah Haydel (2-9) picked up the win, tossing 4.1 innings with four earned runs on six hits. Haydel struck out three in the victory and gave up only one extra base hit.

Freshmen Taylor Hastings threw 1.2 innings out of the bullpen, striking out three and Morgan Skinner fanned one in a 1-2-3 seventh.

Jonee Rutledge suffered the loss for Southern. At the plate, Jackson led SU with three RBIs on two hits, and Carla Arismendi added two hits.

Nicholls returns to conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Incarnate Word. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.