THIBODAUX, La. – Needing two wins to clinch a share of the Southland regular season championship, the Nicholls State University softball team did just that as the Colonels swept their Friday doubleheader against Lamar with 9-1 and 6-4 victories at Swanner Field.
The wins extend the Colonels' streak to 10 games and a victory over Lamar on Saturday would give Nicholls the outright championship. The program's last regular season title came in 1996.
The Colonels (37-13, 20-6 SLC) took care of business against Lamar by outhitting the Cardinals (28-26, 11-15 SLC), 20-11, and taking advantage of seven errors on the day. Of the Colonels' 15 runs, only four were earned.
Nicholls had 13 hits in the opening win and used a six-run third to blow open the game. The Colonels also had a six-run inning in the nightcap, that one coming in the fourth, before holding on to the two-run victory.
Megan Landry (21-7) dished out another complete game victory, allowing just three hits and an unearned run in five innings of work. It didn't take long for the offense to give her a cushion to work with as
Jewel Lara and
Kasey Frederick doubled in the first inning to chase Taylor Gruell (9-8) out of the game, giving Nicholls a 2-0 lead before its first out.
Lamar got one back in the third after a Colonel error allowed a run to score, but then the Cardinals came back and had three errors of their own in the inning. With the miscues leading to a 6-1 advantage for Nicholls, Frederick made it 8-1 with a 2-run double.
In the fifth,
Kelsey Miller led off with a single and reached second on a throwing error, and Lara ended the game with a double down the left field line. Lara and
Amanda Gianelloni had three hits each, while Frederick drove in three on her two doubles. Miller also had two hits and scored three times.
For the second game,
Alexis LaBure and Lauren Napoli kept the offenses off the board before the Colonels broke through in the fourth. Lamar threatened in the top half, but a pair of solid plays by the defense kept them from scoring in the frame. After LU led off with a single, Frederick threw a strike from left field to gun down a runner trying to reach third on another base hit. To end the inning, second baseman
Emma Holland made a diving stop and flipped the ball to Gianelloni at second for a force out, saving a run from scoring on the play.
The defensive efforts fueled the Colonels in the bottom half, leading to three consecutive base hits to load the bases.
Samantha Dares then made it four straight as she ripped a single up the middle for a 2-0 lead. Miller added another run on a hit-by-pitch, and Lara capped the six-run inning by clearing the bases with a triple down the right-field line.
LaBure (12-4) tossed five shutout innings before Lamar was able to crack the scoring column in the sixth. The Cardinals then used three hits to score three in the seventh, but LaBure ended the game with three consecutive groundouts to complete the doubleheader sweep. The freshman from Port Neches, Texas struck out six and surrendered eight hits.
Nicholls had seven hits for the game, led by a 2-for-4 night from Lara. Napoli (13-15) took the loss, lasting 3.2 innings with two earned runs on six hits.
UP NEXT
Nicholls will wrap up the regular season on Senior Day Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. Following the game, the Colonels will honor their two seniors –
Julia Bailey and
Moriah Strother.
