THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University softball team pieced together a five-run third inning to take the lead over Southeastern and added two much needed insurance runs in the latter innings as the Colonels won the series with a 7-5 victory on Saturday afternoon at Swanner Field at Geo Surfaces Park.

With the win, Nicholls (25-21, 12-6 SLC) is now tied for third in the standings with UIW. The Colonels head to San Antonio next weekend for a three-game series against the Cardinals. The victory also gave third-year head coach Justin Lewis his first series win over SLU (37-10, 14-4 SLC), snapping the Lady Lions' 14 consecutive series victory streak in league play.

While the Colonels received two more solid outings in the circle by their aces, Audrey McNeill and Molly Yoo, the offense produced 10 hits against SLU which headed into the series as the league's top pitching staff. The Colonels were just the fourth team to crack double figures in hits against the Lady Lions this season. Alexa Poche' led the way with three hits while Abby Andersen chipped in with two.

McNeill tossed five innings for the victory, giving up two earned runs on five hits. The first run scored on a wild pitch in the third before Maria Detillier roped a double for a 2-0 SLU lead. 

But the Colonels countered in the bottom of the frame with four hits to plate five. Last night's hero, Erin Krause, started the scoring with a deep sacrifice fly to center with the bases loaded. Poche' dropped down a single to left for the second run and Riley Rutherford gave Nicholls the lead with another sac fly. Gabby Higbee capped the huge inning with a two-run double in the left center gap. 

The teams traded unearned runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Colleen Kullivan had an RBI groundout for SLU after a Colonel error in the fourth. Trailing 5-3 in the fifth, SLU had a chance to tie the game with two runners on and one out, but Reagan Heflin made her second of two run-saving catches out in left field. She start off the inning with a running grab at the wall to keep a fly ball in the park. Then in the bottom half, Krause reached on an error and scored on a Higbee sac fly. 

In the sixth, Heflin poked a single through the right side for an RBI. Pinch-hitter Mckenzie Champagne led off with an infield single and Samantha Gwiazda re-entered and moved to second on a sac bunt by Claire Sisco, who extended her on-base streak to 27 games earlier in the game with an infield single.

After working a perfect sixth, Yoo ran into trouble in the seventh as SLU rallied with two runs. Lexi Johnson drove in a run with a base hit before Sisco misplayed a grounder at second for the second run. But with two down, Rutherford knocked down a hard grounder at first and made a diving tag on the base just before Bailey Krolczyk reached for the final out. 

Yoo notched her first save of the season, throwing the final two innings with one earned run on two hits. MC Comeaux took the loss with three runs on one hit in 0.1 innings. 

ON DECK
Nicholls heads to the Lone Star State for its next four games, starting with a Thursday night matchup (April 25) against No. 1 Texas. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.