HOUSTON, Texas - Following four scoreless innings with the score tied at 1-1, HCU used a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning to defeat Nicholls, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon at Husky Field and claim the series victory.

Nicholls (23-19, 10-5 SLC) tied the game in the fifth when Alexa Poche' pinch hit and drove in Gabby Higbee on a sacrifice fly. But Averi Paden and HCU's Lyndie Swanson kept both offenses off the scoreboard until HCU's late heroics. 

The Huskies (17-20, 4-11 SLC) filled the bags after three singles, setting up Haylie Savage who sent a 1-1 pitch over the center field wall for the game-winner. 

HCU outhit the Colonels for the game, 12-7, with Higbee and Claire Sisco leading Nicholls with two hits each. But the Colonels left nine runners on base against Swanson, who limited Nicholls to a run in her 17 innings over the weekend. 

The Huskies scored first with an RBI single by Maddie Bailey in the second, driving in Savage who led off with a double. Audrey McNeill started the game and totaled four hits allowed in 3.0 innings.

The Colonels had a chance to score in the first when Reagan Heflin and Abby Andersen singled, but Swanson logged her first of three strikeouts in the game to end the threat. But in the fifth, Higbee started the frame with a double, moved to third on a sac bunt, then scored on a deep fly by Poche' to left. 

Higbee again reached to lead off the inning in the ninth with a base hit and stole second. But Swanson retired the next three to keep the game tied, making way for the 10th-inning victory.

Paden tossed 6.1 innings in the loss, giving up eight hits and struck out one. 

ON DECK
Nicholls will wrap up its home-and-home against Louisiana on Wednesday in Lafayette. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.