THIBODAUX, La. – Playing in its first home game of the season, the Nicholls State University softball team did not disappoint the home crowd as the Colonels pounded out 15 hits to earn their second run-rule victory of the season against Southern with a 11-2 six-inning win on Wednesday night at the Colonel Softball Complex.
The win was the Colonels' fourth consecutive and improved their record to 5-1 on the year. Southern dropped to 0-2, with both losses coming to Nicholls.
Unlike the first matchup, the Lady Jaguars hung around the Colonels through three innings as the game was knotted at 1-1. The Colonels pushed their lead to 4-1 with a three-run fourth and then déjà vu struck as the Red and Gray exploded for seven runs in the sixth to earn a walk-off mercy rule victory. Nicholls led Southern 7-0 in their first meeting before ending the game with eight runs in the final inning.
A total of seven Colonels tallied two hits in the win and
Haley Parkerson led the team with three RBIs.
Alexis Huss had two hits with a double and drove in two while
Haley Stevenson had a triple as one of her two hits and also scored twice.
Danielle Phillips and
Laura Neil chipped in with two RBIs each.
Jackie Johnson (2-1) earned the win in the circle, giving up four hits and a run in five innings of work. After the Colonels took a 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly by Phillips, Johnson gave up a leadoff double to Alicia Barajas in the third and then allowed her to score on a wild pitch later in the inning to even the score.
In the bottom of the fourth, Nicholls gained the lead with four hits to plate three runs. With two on and one out, Parkerson ripped a ball over the rightfielder and went on to leg out a triple. The next batter,
Payton Gremillion, beat out a close play at first for an infield single as Parkerson came home for a 4-1 lead.
Southern got one back in the top of the sixth off
Taylor Hastings, who pitched one inning for the save. Kiara Suttles singled for the Lady Jaguars and came around to score after a Colonel error and two wild pitches.
In the bottom half, Stevenson started the big inning with the Colonels' second triple of the game. Stevenson was 2-of-2 at the plate to up her average to a team-high .625 after six games. She then scored on a groundout before the Colonels blew the game open, all with two outs.
An error and back-to-back singles pushed the lead to 6-2.
Kayla Prater then drove in a run with a single to center and Huss added to the lead with a 2-run double. Up 9-2 with the bases loaded, Neil, the Colonels' lone senior, laced a single to left center to bring home two runs, ending the game at 11-2 in six innings.
Southern finished with five hits, getting two by Suttles. Delphia Holmes took the loss, allowing four earned runs on eight hits in four innings.
The Colonels return to the diamond as they head to Birmingham, Ala. to take part in the Samford Invitational this weekend. Nicholls opens up tournament play on Friday, Feb. 13, against Murray State at 5 p.m.
