THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team earned its third sweep of the season as the Colonels defeated Incarnate Word, 5-0 and 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at the Colonel Softball Complex.
With the victories, Nicholls ups its record to 28-14 overall and 13-4 in the Southland. The Colonels have won 10 straight games at home, improving to 12-1 on the year.
The Colonels will step out of conference for a Tuesday (April 19) doubleheader at Jackson State, before hosting Northwestern State for a three-game series next weekend.
Game 1 – Nicholls 5, UIW 0
Led by four innings from senior
Hannah Haydel, the Colonel pitching staff tossed a shutout while freshmen
Amanda Gianelloni and
Veronica Villafranco combined to go 6-for-6 with four RBIs as Nicholls clinched the series with a 5-0 victory over UIW.
Nicholls gave Haydel (14-7) an early cushion as Gianelloni and Villafranco tallied RBI singles in the first inning. The Colonels then went up 3-0 when Gianelloni hit a solo home run in the third, which was her second long ball of the series, and plated a pair in the fifth for a 5-0 lead.
Haydel gave up four hits in her outing and struck out seven, and was able to escape out of some early jams. UIW (14-26, 5-13) put runners in scoring position in the opening frame but came away empty, and in the fourth, they had two on with one out before Haydel fanned two straight to end the inning.
Jackie Johnson came into pitch in the fifth, and the inning was capped on a double play. With one down,
Madison Jeffrey caught a fly ball in right and rifled it to first before the runner was able to slide back to the bag.
Johnson allowed a hit in the sixth and gave way to
Taylor Hastings. UIW loaded the bases with no outs, but once again, the Colonels prevented the Cardinals from cracking the scoring column.
Brooke Morris fired home on a grounder for the first out before Hastings struck out Mikaela Flores. Morris then fielded a grounder and tossed it to Gianelloni at second for a force to end the threat.
Hastings pitched a perfect seventh to secure the win for Haydel.
Nicholls had 10 hits in the victory, while UIW finished with seven.
Danielle Phillips doubled and scored in the first, and the two runs in the fifth came on a RBI single by Villafranco and a sac fly from Morris.
Darianne Hale (2-3) tossed all six innings for UIW, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits. Danielle Ramirez and Shelby Swenson led the Cardinals with two hits each.
Game 2 – Nicholls 5, UIW 2
The Colonels jumped on UIW early again with a 3-0 lead after three innings and it was more than enough for freshman pitcher
Megan Landry as Nicholls earned a sweep with a 5-2 victory in game two of Saturday's doubleheader.
Landry (12-6) held the Cardinals in check by allowing just four hits in 6.2 inning of work. UIW singled off Landry in the seventh and with two down, and Johnson came in to pitch to close out the game. But the first pitch she threw was sent into the shrubbery in left field as Samantha Mendoza, who was 3-for-3 for the game, belted a 2-run shot. UIW drew two more walks to bring the tying run to the plate, but Johnson forced a fly out to right to end the game.
Villafranco, who made her first career starts, continued her big day with a 2-for-3 outing and two more RBIs. Phillips had two hits and drove in a run, and Morris singled and had an RBI.
Gretchen Morgan started the scoring for Nicholls with a solo bomb in the second.
In the third, the Colonels used some two-out magic to take a 3-0 lead. Gianelloni drew a walk to keep the inning alive, and Villafranco ripped a shot to left center for a run-scoring double. Morris then capped the inning with a RBI single.
Up 3-0 in the fifth, the Colonels added two more insurance runs which proved to be needed.
Haley Parkerson legged out a triple to start the inning, and her fellow Georgia teammate, Phillips, drove her home on a double over the centerfielder. Villafranco once again stepped up big with a RBI single to right.
Landry finished with four strikeouts in the win and walked just one. Jessica Rodriguez (2-4) took the loss for UIW after allowing four runs on six hits in four innings.
