THIBODAUX, La. – Following its second extra-inning loss in its last two series at home, the Nicholls State University softball team used a clutch 2-run double by catcher
Yasmeen Williams in the sixth to even up the series against Abilene Christian, winning 3-1 in the second game of Friday's doubleheader at Swanner Field.
Nicholls (11-22, 4-16 SLC) fell in the opener in eight innings against ACU, 3-2, but was able to bounce back with the victory. The Colonels will go for their second straight series win on Saturday with the finale scheduled for noon.
While Williams was the hero at the plate in the second matchup,
Taryn Westbrook tossed a complete game in the circle for the Colonels. She scattered five hits and struck out two, with her lone mistake resulting in a solo home run by ACU's Samantha Bradley in the fourth.
Nicholls scored in the first inning thanks to an ACU error, and the teams were deadlocked until the Colonel sixth.
Kennedy Hebert and
Melise Gossen both singled to set up Williams, who crushed a 3-2 pitch into center field with two outs to drive in the go-ahead runs.
Westbrook then pitched a perfect seventh, ending the game with a looking strikeout.
In the first contest,
Alexis LaBure had a strong showing in the circle and Nicholls pounded out a season-high 12 hits, but it wasn't enough as Abilene Christian (8-31, 4-16 SLC) homered in the extra frame for the win.
Five Colonels had multi-hit games in the setback, including a 3-for-4 day by freshman
Ashlyn Reavis.
Skylar Hamilton,
Lulu Vazquez,
Emma Holland and Gossen each had two hits for the Red and Gray.
LaBure threw all eight innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out two. She surrendered two RBI doubles in the first inning but cruised until the eighth when Kayla Keeling sent one out of the park for the winning run.
The Colonels used their own long ball in the fourth inning to score their first run as Gossen hit her team-high third homer of the season.
In the sixth, Nicholls tied the game on a Holland RBI single. Then with one down and Holland on third, the Colonels tried to score on a shallow fly out to right but were doubled up as Avery Miloch fired a strike to home plate to get the runner.
Kayla Keeling broke the tie in the eighth with a two-out solo homer. In the bottom half, Vazquez doubled with one down for the Colonels before Bradley finished the complete game for ACU by fielding two groundouts to end game.
