Live Stats THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team will look to earn a season series split with No. 22 South Alabama as the Colonels will take on the nationally ranked Jaguars on Wednesday night at 5 p.m. at Jaguar Field.
Nicholls (22-14) and South Alabama (27-7) played earlier this season in Thibodaux, with the Jaguars coming away with a late 7-2 victory. The Colonels tied the game at 2-all in the bottom of the sixth, but USA answered with five runs in the seventh to put the contest out of reach.
The Colonels put together a five-game winning streak and took their last conference series against McNeese State, but the Cowgirls avoided the sweep by winning the final game, 6-3. Nicholls started the streak by defeating Central Arkansas, added two more wins in a doubleheader sweep over Alcorn State and went on to win the first two games against McNeese.
Hannah Haydel continued to shine in the circle for the Red and Gray, adding a win and a save against the Cowgirls. After shutting out the visitors on Friday night, she came back to earn a save in Saturday's first game to clinch the series. On the year, Haydel holds a 12-6 record with a 2.37 ERA in 118.0 innings pitched.
At the plate,
Haley Stevenson led the Colonels last week with a .385 batting average and seven RBIs. Two of the runs came in on a two-run home run in Saturday's win, which turned out to be the difference in the game. Stevenson leads the team with a .387 batting average on the season, which ranks seventh in the Southland.
Brooke Morris (.355) and
Alexis Huss (.330) are also hitting over .300 on the year, while
Kayla Prater has a team-high 33 RBIs.
USA is coming off a three-game sweep over Texas-Arlington, which pushed their Sun Belt Conference winning streak to 10 games. Overall, the Jaguars have won 11 of their last 12, with their only loss coming to nationally-ranked LSU.
Chloe Rathburn leads the Jaguars offensively with a .385 batting average, including a team-high 42 hits and 36 RBIs. In the circle, Kalen McGill heads the staff with a 12-1 record and is second on the team with a 2.18 ERA. Farish Beard posts the best ERA for USA at 1.40, while Devin Brown has a team-high 148 strikeouts.
