THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team will head to Texas this weekend for five games in the North Texas Invitational.


GAME SCHEDULE (All times are central) 

Opponent	Time (CT)
Friday, March 2
Tulsa	11 a.m.
UT Arlington	4 p.m.
Saturday, March 3
Tulsa	12 p.m.
North Texas	4:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 4
North Texas	11 a.m.

LIVE STATS 

Nicholls is 9-4 on the year after its run-rule victory over Southern Miss Wednesday night. Megan Landry tossed five innings for her fifth win of the season, while the offense blasted three home runs for an 11-2 six-inning victory.
 
The Colonels had just one homer through the first 12 games, a solo shot by Amanda Gianelloni, but the junior highlighted Nicholls' nine-run sixth inning with a grand slam, and Kasey Frederick capped it with a two-run shot. Bailey Hughes also homered in the game – the first of her career.
 
Gianelloni went 4-for-4 in the game and has a hit in her last 10 official at-bats. She started the hot streak with four hits in the win over Villanova and followed up with two against Manhattan, while also adding a sacrifice bunt and reaching on a walk and hit-by-pitch. Gianelloni carries a team-best .415 batting average into the weekend, along with 11 RBIs.
 
Nicholls is batting .276 as a team with Samantha Mracich (.342) and Frederick (.333) also hitting over .300. Five of Frederick's 14 hits on the season have been for extra bases, and she is second on the team with seven RBIs.
 
The pitching staff boasts a 1.74 ERA and all three starters picked up a win last weekend in the Madeira Beach Tournament. Landry's 1.38 mark leads the trio, and she has 41 strikeouts while walking only three. Amanda Holliday is 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA and freshman Alexis LaBure is 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA.
 
Host North Texas (7-4) enters the tournament on a four-game winning streak after picking up two wins each against Grambling and Prairie View A&M last weekend. UNT played Southland Conference member Central Arkansas in their opening weekend and fell 5-4. They are led by Lacy Gregory at the plate with a .375 batting average and 17 RBIs. In the circle, Maria Priest is 4-3 with a 2.08 ERA.
 
Tulsa is 7-7 so far on the year and was 4-1 last weekend in its tournament at FAU. The Golden Hurricane have played a loaded schedule with their losses coming against Iowa and nationally-ranked Texas A&M and McNeese. Julia Hollingsworth has a team-best .368 average while Emily Watson posts a 5-2 record in the circle with a 1.79 ERA.
 
UTA is 7-6 overall after falling in its last outing at home to Southland member Sam Houston State, 5-1. The Mavericks started the season with a win over Syracuse and also defeated Southern Miss, 6-4. Whitney Walton and Reagan Wright are UTA's lone hitters over the .300 mark. Randi Phillips heads the pitching staff with a 4-2 record and a 2.68 ERA.
 
UP NEXT
 
Nicholls will have the midweek off before heading to Houston next weekend for their conference-opening series against HBU.