THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team will look to bounce back from a sluggish Southland Conference opening weekend as the Colonels take on Stephen F. Austin for a three-game series.
Friday's doubleheader is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and the finale is set for noon on Saturday.
The Colonels (6-8, 0-3 SLC) suffered a rare sweep at home last weekend, falling in all three games against Northwestern State. Nicholls was outhit by NSU in the series, 29-15, leading to a 22-4 differential in runs scored.
Kelsey Miller had the best showing at the plate, going 4 for 10 with four singles. Four Colonels had a pair of hits, including
Melise Gossen who homered for one of the team's four RBIs.
Samantha Gwiazda and
Kennedy Hebert also had two hits each and drove in a run.
For the season, freshman
Ashlyn Reavis, who was the fourth Colonel with two hits, continues to pace the team with a .462 batting average. Helped by an eight-game hitting streak which ended over the weekend, Hebert has a .341 average with a team-high nine RBIs.
While the Colonel pitching struggled overall in slowing the Lady Demon offense, freshman
Brittney Turner had a solid outing in relief on Saturday. In only her second appearance of the season, Turner tossed 5.0 innings, scattering four hits with one earned run. Two of her four walks came in the fifth inning, resulting in NSU's final run of the game.
SFA (10-8, 3-0 SLC) saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end on Tuesday with a close 3-2 loss at Baylor. Over the weekend, the Ladyjacks swept UIW in their league opener, winning the three games by a combined score of 27-3.
As a result of their dominating series win over UIW, Shaylon Govan and Kassidy Wilbur were named Southland hitter and pitcher of the week, respectively. Govan posted a .769 average for the week and is batting .481 with six doubles, six homers, and 19 RBIs for the season. Wilbur has a 10-3 record in the circle following her 4-0 week and leads the Southland with 114 strikeouts and a .170 opponent batting average.
Nicholls has won the last five in the series, but the teams have not played since 2018. SFA won the opening game at home in the '17 matchup before Nicholls took the series and then swept SFA in Thibodaux in '18.
