LAKE CHARLES, La. – McNeese State scored a run in the first and sixth inning and it proved to be more than enough as the Nicholls State University softball team dropped game one of its three-game set against the Cowgirls, 2-0, on Friday night at Cowgirl Diamond.
 
With the loss, Nicholls dropped to 24-13 overall and 9-3 in the Southland, while McNeese extended its first-place lead in the standings at 27-8 and 12-1. The teams will wrap up the series on Saturday with a doubleheader at noon.
 
Hannah Haydel (12-7) took the loss, allowing two earned runs on eight hits. A leadoff single and a hit-by-pitch in the first led to the Cowgirls' first run, and McNeese added one more in the sixth on an RBI single by pitcher Emily Vincent.
 
Vincent (10-2) tossed all seven innings for McNeese, limiting Nicholls to just three hits, with only one leaving the infield. She finished with four strikeouts and walked one.
 
The Cowgirls jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a RBI groundout by Morgan Catron. The run was setup after the first two batters moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.
 
The Colonels received their first hit of the day when Kayla Prater singled in the infield with one out in the third. Following a fly out, Prater looked to have stolen second base, but was called out for leaving early. Alexis Huss added a bloop single to left in the fourth, but was left stranded.
 
In the bottom half, the Colonels pulled off an incredible defensive play to keep the Cowgirls off the scoreboard. After back-to-back singles by the Cowgirls and a throwing error by Haydel put runners on second and third, McNeese tried to score on a bunt by Vincent, but Haydel fielded the ball and went to home to Prater to get the lead runner. Prater then fired the ball to shortstop Amanda Gianelloni for what looked to be out number two as Gianelloni tagged the sliding Vincent at second base. Catron then headed for home, but Gianelloni alertly gunned the ball to Prater, who tagged Catron as the Colonels celebrated what was thought to be a triple play. But after some confusion on the field, the runner at second was called safe, keeping the inning alive for the Cowgirls; however, a fly out would end the inning.
 
Vincent kept the Colonels hitless in the fifth and sixth, and drove in a run herself in the bottom half of the frame. With two down in the seventh, Jessica Taylor gave the Colonels life as she reached on an infield single to short and moved over to second on a throwing error. But Vincent got Brooke Morris to pop out in the infield to secure the win for the Cowgirls.
 
Haydel finished with two strikeouts and walked one. The league's leader in ERA, Haydel's earned run against the Cowgirls was the first since she allowed a run in the Colonels' 2-0 loss at No. 7 LSU on March 22.
 
Maria Taunton led McNeese at the plate with a 3-for-3 day, while Catron and Vincent had two hits each.