LAKE CHARLES, La. - The Nicholls State University softball team reached double figures in hits for the sixth time this season but the Colonels fell short in the series opener at McNeese with an 8-5 loss Friday night at Cowgirl Diamond. 

With the loss, Nicholls (10-18, 3-4 SLC) dropped its fourth straight game and fourth straight in the series. McNeese improved to 19-13 overall and 5-2 in league play.

Claire Sisco continued to swing a hot bat, registering back-to-back three-hit games. Reagan Heflin and Molly VandenBout each had two hits and Erin Krause drove in two with her first home run of the season.

Molly Yoo took the loss with six earned runs in 4.2 innings. The Cowgirls used four hits to score three runs to take an early 3-0 lead in the second.

Nicholls scored its first run in the fourth on a Lilianna Robledo sacrifice fly. Heflin and VandenBout set up the run with leadoff hits. However, McNeese got the run back in the bottom half for a 4-1 advantage.

In the fifth, Sisco reached on a walk and Krause followed with a two-run shot over the right center wall. Heflin added a two-out single but was left on base.

The Cowgirls scored on an RBI single before Brylie Fontenot hit a two-run homer for a 7-3 lead, chasing Yoo out of the game. McNeese then added a run in the sixth before Nicholls pieced together a late rally.

Sisco singled and scored on a Brynne Songy base hit to center. VandenBout doubled and Heflin drove in a run on a groundout. But with two down, Ryann Schexnayder forced a popout to complete a three-inning save for the Cowgirls.

ON DECK
The series will conclude on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.