BATON ROUGE, La. – Playing against the nation's top-ranked team, the Nicholls State University softball team struck first against No. 1 LSU with a run in the third, but the Tigers scored six unanswered runs to defeat the Colonels, 6-1, on Tuesday night at Tiger Park.
 
With the loss, Nicholls slipped to 16-9 on the year while LSU, coming off its first loss of the season over the weekend at top-ranked Florida, improved to 28-1.
 
The Colonels were held to four hits in the loss, getting singles from Brooke Morris, Danielle Phillips, Haley Parkerson and Jessica Taylor. Parkerson's leadoff blooper down the left line in the third, combined with a walk by Taylor, led to the Colonels' lone run as Morris hit a shot up the middle with two outs to bring home Parkerson from second.
 
But that would be all the offense that Nicholls would get as LSU starting pitcher Baylee Corbello (7-0) held the Colonels to just two infield singles the rest of the way. Corbello, who one-hit Nicholls in last season's 9-0 decision, finished with six strikeouts in seven innings of work.
 
For the Colonels, Hannah Haydel (9-4) took the loss, despite a strong effort in the circle. After cruising through the first two innings, the junior native of Ama allowed a game-tying double to Bianka Bell in the third before getting out of a jam in the fourth. The Tigers put two on with two outs after a double and an error in the frame, but Haley Stevenson made a sharp play at third on a grounder and threw the batter out to keep the score at 1-all.
 
But the Tigers plated two in the fifth off Haydel, aided by a leadoff walk. A double by Bailey Landry put runners in scoring position for Bell, who then delivered a 2-run single down the left field line. Haydel left the game in the fifth, allowing three runs on six hits and struck out one.
 
In the sixth, LSU tacked on three runs off reliever Taylor Hastings to make the final score.
 
Bell had a huge day at the plate for the Tigers, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs. She entered the game with a .545 batting average and finished the day with 45 RBIs on the year.
 
Nicholls will return to conference play this weekend as they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a three-game series. Friday's opener is scheduled for 6 p.m., with Saturday's doubleheader slated for 12 p.m.