HAMMOND,  La. – Pitching remained a strong point for the Nicholls State University softball team Saturday in the Lion Classic, but after a 3-1 win over Southern Illinois, the Colonels suffered their first loss of the season in a 1-0 decision to Nevada.
 
Nicholls will wrap up play in the classic Sunday against Coppin State. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live stats for the game will not be available.
 
Game 1 – Nicholls 3, Southern Illinois 1
 
Freshman Samantha Mracich went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in all three runs while Megan Landry tossed another gem as the Colonels took down SIU, 3-1.
 
Landry added another stellar seven innings of work to her resume, scattering seven hits and struck out six. Her lone blemish of the weekend so far was a two-out solo home run by SIU's Merri Ann Patterson.
 
Scoreless through four, Nicholls ended the drought in the fifth with a pair of runs off of Nicole Doyle. The Colonels loaded the bases after two free passes and a double by Sydney Bourg. Mracich then delivered a shot up the middle off of reliever Brianna Jones, giving the Colonels a 2-0 lead.
 
In the seventh, Bourg scored again off the bat of Mracich on another single up the middle. In the bottom half, Landry looked to be on her way for her second shutout in as many games, but the Salukis tagged her with her first earned run of the season. SIU threatened two score twice earlier in the game by loading the bases in the first and sixth innings, but Landry was able to escape both times.
 
Bourg finished 2-for-3 and Veronica Villafranco added  a single.
 
Game 2 – Nevada 1, Nicholls 0
 
A two-out run in the second by Nevada proved to be the difference in the game as a pitcher's duel broke out between Jackie Johnson and Nevada's Kali Sargent.
 
Johnson, who tossed six innings last night without allowing a hit, threw a complete game against the Wolf Pack, finishing with two strikeouts while allowing five hits. Her counterpart also surrendered five hits and had a pair of punchouts.

Three of the Colonels' hits came from Brooke Morris, who helped Nicholls pose a threat to score in the third and sixth innings. With two down in the third, Mracich and Morris each singled but were left stranded on base. In the sixth, Mracich reached on an error to start things off and Morris singled in the infield to put two on with no outs. Jessica Taylor laid down a sac bunt to move the runners over, but Villafranco followed with a line out to short and Kasey Frederick flied out to center to end the inning.
 
Stilling trailing 1-0 in the seventh, Haley Stevenson gave the Colonels life with a two-single. However, Sargent struck out Amanda Gianelloni to close the game for the Wolf Pack.