LIVE STATS / VIDEO STREAM
THIBODAUX, La. – Looking to stay in contention for the Southland Conference regular season title, the Nicholls State University softball team will take on the University of Incarnate Word for a three-game series at the Colonel Softball Complex, starting Friday night at 7 p.m.
The series will wrap up on Saturday with a doubleheader at noon. Live stats and a live video stream are available on geauxcolonels.com. Admission to all home softball games is free of charge.
THE MATCHUP
- Nicholls enters the series with at 25-14 overall and is third in the Southland at 10-4.
- UIW is 14-23 overall and is ninth in the Southland at 5-10.
- The Colonels lead the all-time series, 4-2, with all six games being played in San Antonio. Last season, Nicholls and UIW split the opening doubleheader with each team winning, 5-4. The Colonels took the series for the second straight year after winning the rubber match, 8-1.
ABOUT THE COLONELS
- The Colonels' midweek game at RPI No. 42 South Alabama on Wednesday was postponed due to rain.
- Nicholls played at first-place McNeese State last weekend, winning one out of the three games to fall back to third place in the standings. McNeese won the first and third games, 2-0, while the Colonels took game two, 3-1. Lamar leads Nicholls for second by 0.5 games.
- The Colonels' win came behind another strong pitching performance from senior Hannah Haydel, who allowed a single run in seven innings of work. Freshman Veronica Villafranco came through with a pinch-hit RBI double to tie the game in the fifth, and senior Danielle Phillips hit a 2-run single in the seventh to lift Nicholls to its 3-1 win.
- Nicholls is has a 9-1 record at home after winning its last seven.
- The Colonels are 22-1 when scoring at least three runs. The only loss came to UMBC in a 6-5 decision on Feb. 20.
IN THE CIRCLE
- The Colonels are 10th in the NCAA in earned run average, posting a 2.00 ERA. Nicholls is also tied for 27th in the country in hits allowed (204).
- Nicholls is first in the Southland in ERA, opponent batting average (.211) and doubles allowed (28), while ranking second in strikeouts (188), triples allowed (3) and home runs allowed (15).
- Hannah Haydel is 13-7 on the season with a 1.38 ERA, which ranks 15th in the NCAA.
- Haydel is first in the Southland in opponent batting average (.190), second in ERA and innings pitched (137.1), and fourth in strikeouts (92).
- Freshman Megan Landry is 11-6 with a 1.98 ERA, which ranks 73rd in the NCAA.
- Landry is fourth in the SLC in ERA, and fifth in opponent batting average (.225) and strikeouts (87).
- Landry suffered a loss at McNeese last weekend, despite allowing just two runs on three hits in her complete game effort.
AT THE PLATE
- Nicholls ranks fourth in the SLC in batting average (.283) and fifth in runs scored (170).
- Senior Danielle Phillips ranks 11th in the Southland in batting average (.368), while freshman Amanda Gianelloni is 13th (.361).
- Phillips has 2 or more hits in six of the last eight games and leads the team with 14 multi-hit games for the season.
- Gianelloni leads the Colonels with 28 RBIs. She ranks second in the Southland in triples (4) and sixth in doubles (10). Her four triples ranks 15th in the NCAA.
- Brooke Morris is tied for first in the country in strikeouts as she yet to record one in 123 at-bats.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
- UIW was swept in its conference series last weekend against Abilene Christian, dropping each game by a three-run deficit.
- UIW is batting .271 on the season (7th in SLC), while their opponents are hitting at a .349 clip (12th out of 12).
- The Cardinals are 0-6 on the road in Southland play and 5-11 on the year.
- Danielle Ramirez leads the offense with a .376 average (9th in SLC) and carries a six-game hitting streak into the series.
- Alexis Alonzo heads the team with 26 RBIs and six home runs, while batting .311.
- Bridget Stein has started 12 games in the circle, posting a 6-7 record with a 4.09 ERA.
- Sarah Leal has eight starts, going 4-7 with a 3.74 ERA.
- Five different Cardinals have logged at least five starts in the circle.
UP NEXT
- The Colonels will have a Tuesday doubleheader at Jackson State (April 19) before hosting rival Northwestern State for a three-game series (April 22-23).
