HOUSTON, Texas - After letting early scoring opportunities slip away in the series opener at HCU, the Nicholls State University softball team pushed across seven runs and received a strong outing by
Averi Paden as the Colonels split the doubleheader with a 7-1 victory following a 4-0 loss Friday at Husky Field.
Nicholls (23-18, 10-4 SLC) and HCU (16-20, 3-11 SLC) will conclude the series on Saturday at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Game 1 - HCU 4, Nicholls 0
Nicholls totaled four hits through the first three innings but could not produce a run and went on to be shut out in Game 1.
The Colonels had six hits in the loss and one error, but the miscue allowed HCU to score two runs in the fourth against
Audrey McNeill. The Huskies then added a pair of runs against
Molly Yoo in the sixth on a two-run single by AB Garcia.
Molly VandenBout led Nicholls with two singles. while
Claire Sisco,
Reagan Heflin,
Abby Andersen and
Samantha Gwiazda accounted for the other base hits. Sisco and Heflin led the game off with singles but the hot start was thwarted when Sisco was thrown out going for third on the hit.
Nicholls had another scoring opportunity in the second after Andersen walked and VandenBout singled. But after a sacrifice bunt moved the runners over, Andersen was thrown out at the plate on a sac fly to keep the score at 0-0. Then in the third, Gwiazda reached on a bunt single and made her way to third with one out. However, Swanson picked up two of her eight strikeouts to end the threat. She walked two batters in 7.0 shutout innings.
McNeill took the loss despite both of her runs being unearned. She walked three and struck out two in 4.0 innings. Yoo struck out two as well in 2.0 innings.
Game 2 - Nicholls 7, HCU 1
Paden improved to 7-2 on the season with a complete game in the circle while
Mckenzie Champagne went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the offense in the Game 2 victory.
Champagne was one of three Colonels with multi-hit efforts, joined by Heflin and Gwiazda. Heflin gave Nicholls the lead in the first inning when she stole home on a Krause walk, then Champagne hit an RBI single up the middle.
HCU got the run back in the bottom half but it would be the only run against Paden. She struck out three in the win and allowed just four hits.
Champagne pushed the lead to 3-1 in the third with an RBI groundout, then Nicholls plated two more in the fourth. Heflin singled in a run before Krause doubled her home for a 5-1 advantage.
In the seventh, Nicholls scored one more run on an error and Champagned finished off the scoring with a run-scoring double.
Grofman struck out eight batters in the loss but allowed five runs on seven hits.
