THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team clinched its first postseason berth since 2010 as the Colonels swept the series against Northwestern State after winning both games of their Saturday doubleheader, 5-1 and 10-4, at the Colonel Softball Complex.
In addition to securing a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament, Nicholls stayed in contention for the regular season title by improving its conference record to 16-4. The Colonels remain 1.5 games back of McNeese State, while moving into second with a half-game lead over Lamar.
On the season, the Colonels are 33-14 and have a 15-1 mark at home. Northwestern State fell to 24-22 overall and 7-14 in the SLC.
The Colonels will have the week off before heading to Hammond, La. for a three-game series at Southeastern Louisiana. Friday night's opener (April 29) is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Game 1 – Nicholls 5, Northwestern State 1
Coming off a no-hitter by
Hannah Haydel, the Colonel pitching staff received another strong start from freshman
Megan Landry and the Colonels pieced together enough offense to take the opener, 5-1, over Northwestern State.
Landry (14-6) pitched four innings of three-hit ball before giving way to Haydel. After holding the Lady Demons hitless on Friday, NSU recorded its first hit against Haydel, but it would all the offense they could come up with the rest of the way as she picked up the save.
Nicholls finished with eight hits in the win, getting two each from
Danielle Phillips and
Kayla Prater. The Colonels plated a run in the third and fourth innings on sacrifice flies by
Alexis Huss and
Haley Parkerson, and took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on one of Northwestern State's three errors in the game.
The Lady Demons recorded their first hit of the series in the third inning and it fueled the lone run for NSU. They tallied three hits in the frame, scoring on a RBI single by Brittney Jones. Landry left after the fourth, striking out five and walked one.
Haydel pitched the final three innings, notching four strikeouts and did not allow a walk. The offense gave Haydel two more runs two work with in the sixth, scoring on an error and a fielder's choice.
Shelby Sells took the loss for NSU, allowing five runs in six innings of work. She finished with four walks and three strikeouts.
Game 2 – Nicholls 10, Northwestern State 4
The Colonels took advantage of four first-inning errors by Northwestern State to score six runs and went on to cruise to their eighth consecutive victory and fourth sweep in Southland Conference play.
The Colonel pitchers switched roles from the first game as Haydel started and tossed four innings, while Landry pitched the final three. Haydel (17-7) allowed two earned runs on four hits and struck out two and Landry gave up a run on two hits and fanned two.
The freshmen duo of
Amanda Gianelloni and Villafranco paced the offense with two hits each, while
Haley Stevenson drove in three runs. Villafranco and Huss each recorded an RBI.
Two of Stevenson's RBIs came in the first as she capped the six-run frame with a 2-run triple. Nicholls scored its first two runs on an error by the third baseman and added two more on a throwing mishap by the pitcher.
The Lady Demons answered with three runs in the second, plating two on a single by Kellye Kincannon. NSU cut the lead in half after a Colonel error made the score 6-3.
In the bottom of the third, Northwestern State's defense struggled once again by recording three more errors.
Brooke Morris singled and scored before Stevenson drove in a run on a groundout to short.
Leading 8-3 heading in the sixth, Nicholls stretched its lead to seven after adding two runs on three hits. Gianelloni tripled and scored on a base hit by Villafranco, and Huss made it a 10-3 game with a RBI double to right center.
Landry allowed a run in the seventh but left the bases loaded as Micayla Sorosiak popped out to short to end the game.
Micaela Bouvier (13-8) suffered the loss despite not allowing an earned run in five innings.
