HAMMOND, La. - The Nicholls State University softball team slipped out of the winners bracket with a 4-1 loss to No. 2 Southeastern before claiming another dramatic win by elimating No. 5 Lamar, 5-4 in eight innings, on Wednesday in the Southland Conference Tournament at North Oak Park.
Nicholls (31-25) will take on the loser of Wednesday night's matchup between No. 1 McNeese and No. 7 HCU. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Game 1 - No. 2 Southeastern 4, No. 3 Nicholls 1
Southeastern scored two runs in the first and it was more than enough for All-Southland First Team pitcher Cera Blanchard as the Lady Lions defeated the Colonels, 4-1.
Abby Andersen had the lone RBI for the Colonels, cutting the deficit to 3-1 with a single to right center in the sixth. But Southeastern (43-13) got the run back in the bottom half before Blanchard finished off the complete game.
Nicholls had five hits in the loss with
Reagan Heflin,
Erin Krause,
Gabby Higbee and
Samantha Gwiazda each tallying singles. Gwiazda and Andersen went back-to-back for the run in the sixth.
Molly Yoo was tagged with the loss, allowing two earned runs on four hits and struck out one. Maria Detillier and Lexi Johnson had RBIs in the opening frame for SLU.
Nicholls had threatened in the top of the first with back-to-back singles by Heflin and Krause, but Detillier caught a hard liner off the bat off of Poche' and was able to double up Krause at first. Blanchard then went on to retire 14 straight batters before Gwiazda dropped down a single in the sixth.
Audrey McNeill also tossed 3.0 innings, giving up on earned run on three hits.
Game 2 - No. 3 Nicholls 5, No. 5 Lamar 4 (8 inn.)
Making just her second start of the season, sophomore
Lilianna Robledo delivered a bases-loaded walk-off single in the eighth inning to lift Nicholls to a 5-4 win over Lamar.
After Lamar (26-25) tied the game in the most unfathomable fashion in the top of the seventh with a two-out inside-the-park home run by Shenita Tucker, Tuesday night's hero
Alexa Poche' got the Colonel eighth started with a single to center. Senior
Mckenzie Champagne snuck a single through the right side and following a flyout,
Katy Sanders, who was also making her first start of the season, drew a walk to load the bases. Facing a 1-0 count, Robledo belted a would-be double in the gap for the Colonels' second walk-off in as many nights.
Robledo finished the game with two RBIs and had a stellar game defensively at third base. With
Erin Krause unable to go, Robledo retired four batters in the first two innings. She finished the game with six assists in just her sixth appearance of the season.
Averi Paden received a no-decision, lasting 5.0 innings with three earned runs on four hits. Molly Yoo finished the game allowing two hits in 3.0 innings of relief.
Nicholls totaled 11 hits with
Abby Andersen and
Claire Sisco finishing with two each. Sisco got things going in the first with an RBI single.
Paden's first run allowed came in the fourth, but Nicholls immediately answered with three in the bottom half. Sanders roped an RBI double before Robledo drove her home on a groundout.
Brynne Songy capped the inning with her second home run of the season, clearing the left field wall. Songy also homered in last season's tournament game against LU.
In the fifth, Mikaila Kenney cut the deficit to 4-3 with a two-run homer off a Paden. Yoo subbed in the circle in the sixth and stranded two to keep the score at 4-3. But in the seventh with a full count and two down, Tucker kept the game going when she hit one in the gap in left center, just out of the reach of a running, out-stretched
Reagan Heflin. The ball trickled away towards the wall and by the time the throw made it home, Tucker slid in safely for her third hit of the game.
The extra-inning affair was the fifth for the Colonels this season and second against Lamar. Nicholls improved to 4-1 which includes its 4-1 victory in 13 innings against LU.
