LAKE CHARLES, La. – The No. 3 Nicholls State University softball team overcame an early 3-0 deficit to lead by a run in the fifth, but Lamar rallied for two runs in the final frame to hand the Colonels a 5-4 loss Friday afternoon at the Southland Conference Tournament.
With the loss, the season comes to an end for the Colonels. The Red and Gray finished with a 29-24 overall record in head coach
Justin Lewis' second campaign. Nicholls had a 17-win improvement from a year ago with included two postseason victories.
Nicholls led 4-3 in the fifth after a two-out rally, starting by a base hit by all-leaguer
Erin Krause. Another All-SLC honoree,
Alexa Poche', followed with an opposite field double in left center for the go-ahead run.
Molly Yoo (13-12) kept Lamar off the board for three-plus innings before running into trouble in the seventh. An infield single and a hit-by-pitch put two on before a fielder's choice and a stolen base moved both into scoring position. Nicolette Ramirez then put down a squeeze bunt and
Melise Gossen went home with it, but the ball squirted loose on the play at the plate for the game-tying run. Felixia Hinojosa followed with a shallow bloop single for the eventual game-winning run.
In the Colonels' final at-bat,
Claire Sisco drew a two-out walk to bring Krause to the plate. Looking for her second hit of the day, Krause smoked a liner up the middle but Ramirez made a running catch for the final out. The Cardinal second baseman ended LU's win against Northwestern State on Thursday in similar fashion with a diving catch for a double play.
Audrey McNeill made the start, allowing four hits and walked two in 2.2 innings. One of the hits was a 3-run home run in the first off the bat of Cameron Niedenthal. McNeill followed with a three-up, three-down second frame before leaving the third with the bases loaded and two outs. Yoo kept the deficit at 3-0 after fielding a groundout to end the inning.
In the bottom half,
Brynne Songy put the Colonels on the board with her first career home run.
MaKynli Miller drew a leadoff walk before Songy belted a 2-1 pitch over the left center wall. The Colonels went on to tie the game thanks to an
Abby Andersen triple followed by a squeeze sac bunt by Sisco.
After the teams combined for five runners stranded in the fourth, the Colonels grabbed the lead on Poche's double. Poche' had an outstanding tournament at the plate, going 6-for-12 with four RBIs.
For Lamar, Aaliyah Ruiz earned the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Niedenthal went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and Estella Garza and Aleka Xayaseng each went 2-for-4.
