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LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team had a lone hit in the opening inning, but it was a big one as senior
Moriah Strother belted a grand slam and it proved to be more than enough for the Colonel pitching staff in a 5-1 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland Conference Tournament Thursday evening at Joe Miller Field.
The win put Nicholls (40-14) into the finals against McNeese for a second consecutive tournament. The championship game is scheduled for noon on Friday on ESPNU, and if Nicholls wins, a second game will follow 30 minutes after.
The Lady Lions (38-21) only run of the game came in the first inning, and it was aided by an errant throw by Strother behind the plate on a bunt. But the first-team catcher more than made up for it after lifting a pitch over the left-field wall for a 4-1 lead.
Kali Clement added a solo homer in the sixth for the game's final run.
Freshman
Alexis LaBure (14-5) took the reins in the circle and tossed 5.1 innings, allowing just the first-inning run and surrendered three hits. She struck out two and walked five.
Amanda Holliday earned her fourth save of the year, pitching the final 1.2 innings.
Lacey Hill (12-7) took the loss despite facing only the first two batters. She walked them both and after Tanner Wright hit
Kasey Frederick to load the bases, Strother crushed a 2-0 pitch for her team-best ninth long ball of the season. It was her second homer of the tournament and fifth in Joe Miller Field this season.
LaBure scattered three hits and three walks as SLU never threatened to score until the sixth inning. She issued two free passes and gave way to Holliday in the circle with one out. Holliday walked the bases loaded, but she got Ella Manzer to hit a liner right at
Samantha Dares at first, who caught it and stepped on the bag for a double play, ending the scare and securing the 4-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth, Clement powered a shot to right center for a 5-1 lead. The Thibodaux native has also enjoyed hitting at the park with four of her seven home runs coming in Lake Charles.
SLU singled in the final inning with two outs, but a routine grounder to second ended the game and sent the Colonels into a rematch with the two-time defending champion Cowgirls.
The 40 victories for the Colonels marks just the eighth time the program has reached the milestone. The last time Nicholls won 40 games was in 1998.
