THIBODAUX, La. – After handing Stephen F. Austin a 7-4 win in the first game, the Nicholls State University softball team rallied from four runs down in the bottom of the seventh to send game two into extra innings, setting up a dramatic 8-7 victory in eight innings on Saturday at the Colonel Softball Complex.
 
Nicholls (13-7, 1-1 SLC) and Stephen F. Austin (7-11, 1-1 SLC) will play the rubber match on Sunday at 12 p.m. Admission to all Colonel softball games is free of charge.
 
Game 1 – SFA 7, Nicholls 4
 
The Colonels had three costly errors in the fifth and seventh innings, leading to seven unearned runs as the Ladyjacks took the Southland opener, 7-4.
 
Nicholls finished with six hits, getting two each from Brooke Morris and Haley Stevenson. In the third, Stevenson scored on a Morris single and Kayla Prater gave Nicholls a 2-0 lead with an RBI groundout.
 
Still leading by two behind four shutout innings by Hannah Haydel, the Colonels finally ran into trouble in the fifth, with most of the damage caused by two errors. A leadoff error by Stevenson led to an RBI single to cut the lead in half, and an error by Haydel kept the inning alive. SFA made Nicholls pay by tying the game on a groundout before Heather Hollingsworth laced a 2-run triple to give SFA a 4-2 lead.
 
But the Colonels tied the game in the sixth with a huge two-out double by Jessica Taylor. With a full count, Taylor ripped a shot down the left field line, driving in two Colonels to knot the game at 4-all.
 
In the seventh, the tie was short-lived, however, as SFA scored the go-ahead run on an error by Danielle Phillips. The Ladyjacks added two insurance runs before retiring the Colonels in order to win the game.
 
Haydel was tagged with the loss, throwing all seven innings with seven hits and four strikeouts. Callee Guffey also had a complete game, allowing four runs on six hits with two Ks.
 
Game 2 – Nicholls 7, SFA 6 (8 innings)
 
The Colonels racked up 16 hits and were helped by four SFA errors to earn a come-from-behind victory, winning 8-7 in extra innings.
 
Payton Gremillion and Morris led the way with three each while Prater, Phillips, Stevenson and Alexis Huss all finished with two.
 
SFA took an early lead with an unearned run in the first, but Nicholls scored twice in the bottom half for a 2-1 advantage. Gremillion singled, stole second and came home to score on a single by Morris. Prater reached on an error and on a steal to second, the Ladyjack catcher threw the ball into center field, allowing Morris to score on the play.
 
Neither team would score in the next four innings, but both squads had golden opportunities in the third. SFA put together a two-out rally to load the bases, but Jackie Johnson picked up a crucial swinging strikeout to get out of the jam. In the bottom half, Nicholls singled twice with one down but were unable to extend the lead.
 
In the sixth, SFA led off the frame with a home run to center and took the lead with a RBI single to left. Hollingsworth then came through with a bases loaded walk to push the Ladyjack lead to 4-2.
 
After SFA received a 2-run homer in the seventh, Nicholls pieced together five hits to tie the game at 6-all. Huss started the big inning with a RBI single with the bases loaded, and Haley Parkerson made it 6-4 with a sacrifice fly. Down to the last out, Taylor sent the first pitch she saw from reliever Makayla Sikes (1-5) into left center for a 2-run double to tie the game.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, Gremillion doubled with one out to put the winning runner in scoring position. Two batters later, Prater beat out an infield single to second and the ball sailed past the first baseman, allowing Gremillion to come home for the walkoff victory.
 
Johnson pitched six innings, surrendering five earned runs on nine hits. Taylor Hastings pitched 1.1 innings of relief, and Haydel (6-3) picked up the win after pitching 0.2 innings.