MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Nicholls State University softball team used two three-run home runs to power past Middle Tennessee State, 7-2, but the Colonels could not complete the sweep in the opening day of the Black and Gold Tournament as they fell to host Alabama State in game two, 6-2.
Nicholls (7-2) will continue action in Montgomery with two more games on Saturday. The Colonels will have a rematch against Alabama State at 1 p.m. and will take on Maryland Baltimore County at 3 p.m.
Game 1 – Nicholls 7, Middle Tennessee State 2 Haley Stevenson and
Moriah Strother each hit three-run shots and
Hannah Haydel continued her strong senior campaign in the circle with her third complete game as Nicholls picked up a 7-2 win over Middle Tennessee State.
Stevenson gave Nicholls a 3-0 lead in the second inning after belting her first homer of the season.
Kasey Frederick reached on a single with one out and Strother took advantage of an error, setting up Stevenson's three-run shot.
Haydel was perfect through three, before MTSU (2-4) led off the fourth with a double. Following a fielder's choice, the Blue Raiders plated two runs on a triple down the right field line.
Leading 3-2 in the sixth, the Colonels pulled away with four runs on four hits.
Amanda Gianelloni started things off with a double, her third in the last two games, and came around to score on an RBI single
Alexis Huss. After a single by Frederick, Strother homered to left center to give Nicholls a 7-2 lead.
Haydel allowed just a walk the rest of the way for her fourth win of the season. For the game, she allowed just three hits, struck out seven and walked one.
Game 2 – Alabama State 6, Nicholls 2 After a pitcher's duel kept runs off the scoreboard through the first four innings, Alabama State used five hits and took advantage of three errors to score four as the Colonels fell, 6-2, to the host Lady Hornets.
The Colonels got two of the runs back in the fifth on a 2-run home run by Huss, who racked up four hits on Friday. But ASU scored two more runs in the bottom half en route to the victory.
Nicholls finished with six hits in the loss, led by Huss' 2-for-3 day.
Megan Landry (3-1) suffered her first loss of the year, allowing three earned runs on nine hits in seven innings of work. She finished with two punchouts and did not issue a walk.
Like in the opening game, the Colonel pitching was unhittable through the first time in the order as Landry retired the first nine batters she faced. She allowed a leadoff single in the fourth before running into trouble in the fifth.
Alabama State was led by Laura Aguilar and Alexis Johnson with two hits each. Maddie Phelps (1-3) had a solid outing in the circle, surrendering six hits in seven innings and struck out five.
