VIDEO | LIVE STATS
THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team embarks on its longest bus trip of the season as the Colonels head to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for their final road series with hopes of maintaining the top position in the conference standings.
The schedule was changed recently, with a Friday doubleheader at 1 p.m. set to kick off the weekend. Saturday's single game is slated for noon. Links to follow both games are available on the schedule page.
Nicholls has played well on the road this season with an 11-4 record but has come up short in the last two series away from Thibodaux. The Colonels swept HBU to open conference play, but dropped two of three at Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese. The Cowgirls are currently tied with Nicholls for first place, along with Stephen F. Austin, and SLU sits a game back.
The Colonels (32-13, 15-6 SLC) have an impressive .329 batting average in its 15 road games, led by shortstop
Amanda Gianelloni with a .392 clip. GIanelloni, who carries a 12-game hitting streak into the series, has 20 RBIs to spark the road offense and leads the team on the year with 34. Freshman
Kelsey Miller is close behind in average at .389 in away games.
For the season,
Kasey Frederick has proved once again to be one of the Southland's best hitters, ranking third in average (.366) and slugging percentage (.604), fourth in doubles (12) and 12th in RBIs (31). A first-team All-Southland honoree last season, Frederick leads Nicholls with 13 multi-hit games, highlighted by a pair of four-hit efforts.
The pitching staff is coming off one of its most dominating weeks of the season as the Colonels went 5-0, capped on their conference sweep of Northwestern State. In 30 innings pitched, the trio of
Megan Landry,
Alexis LaBure, and
Amanda Holliday allowed just three runs and 11 hits. LaBure went 2-0 and recorded her first career no-hitter, and Landry was 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA. With six games remaining in the regular season, Landry posts a Southland-best 18-7 record and 1.78 ERA while ranking third in strikeouts (115) and opponent batting average (.213).
The Islanders (12-33-1, 3-18 SLC) are coming off their first conference series win, taking two of three against HBU on the road. Before last weekend, the other Southland victory came in a 7-0 shutout versus Abilene Christian.
Kayla Sheridan posts a .301 batting average for A&M-Corpus Christi, while Keagan Helson leads the team with eight doubles, six home runs, and 21 RBIs. Ashley Smith has carried the load in the circle, tossing 141 innings with a 5.62 ERA.
Nicholls has won the previous six meetings with the Islanders, sweeping the series in Thibodaux last season after winning all three on the road in 2016.
UP NEXT
Following the series with the Islanders, the Colonels will host Lamar at Swanner Field for the regular season finale. Friday's (May 4) opener is scheduled for 5 p.m.
