THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University softball team will get its postseason started on Thursday, May 1 in Day 1 of the Southland Conference Tournament, hosted by Southeastern at North Oak Park.
This year's postseason will feature a new look with the eight-team field split into two brackets. No. 1 McNeese will host one while Nicholls will head to Hammond, Louisiana as No. 2 Southeastern will host the other. The winners of the double-elimination brackets will advance to the championship best-of-three series next weekend for the SLC title.
McNeese claimed the top seed for the postseason after securing its fourth consecutive regular season title -- a first in Southland history. Southeastern staved off a hot Colonels squad by avoiding the sweep in the final week to take No. 2, and Nicholls finished at No. 3 after winning 19 of its last 21 games. The rest of the field includes No. 4 UIW, No. 5 Lamar, No. 6 SFA, No. 7 HCU, and No. 8 East Texas A&M.
Along with SLU, Nicholls will be joined at North Oak Park by SFA and HCU. Nicholls has a combined 7-2 record against the Hammond Bracket. The Colonels swept HCU in a midweek home series, and won the series on the road as SFA to begin conference play and at SLU to wrap up the regular season.
Nicholls heads back to North Oak Park with the No. 2 offense in the league. The Colonels are batting .323 as a team and are led by first-team selection
Claire Sisco. The Colonel leadoff hitter ended the regular season with the SLC's top batting average at .453 will also tying for first with 19 doubles.
Reagan Heflin, who was named second team, posted a .350 batting average with nine doubles and 28 RBIs.
Molly VandenBout was also selected for the second team after batting .306 with 33 RBis and a team-high three home runs.
Erin Krause led the offense with 41 RBIs, ranking third in the SLC, and finished with a .344 average.
The pitching staff features a pair of 10-game winners in
Molly Yoo and
Averi Paden. Yoo went 10-7 with a 4.17 ERA and a team-high 60 strikeouts. Paden was 8-0 in conference and wrapped up the regular season with a 10-6 overall record with a 4.32 ERA. VandenBout also started 12 games and went 5-6 with a 4.30 ERA
After going 2-2 for the second straight year, the Colonels are 31-29 all-time in the SLC Tournament. Nicholls opened up last season with a walk-off 5-4 win over No. 7 HCU before falling 4-1 to No. 2 Southeastern. Facing elimination, the Colonels won in extras with another walk-off victory against No. 5 Lamar. But in another extra-inning affair, Nicholls saw its season end with a 4-3 loss to No. 1 McNeese.
Nicholls is making its third all-time appearance in the tournament as a No. 3 seed.
Hammond Bracket Play
| Thursday, May 1 |
| Matchup |
Time |
Stream/Stats |
Result |
| 1 |
No. 3 Nicholls vs. No. 6 SFA |
1 PM |
Live Stats |
|
| 2 |
No. 2 Southeastern vs. No. 7 HCU |
4 PM |
Live Stats |
|
| Friday, May 2 |
| Matchup |
Time |
Stream/Stats |
Result |
| 3 |
Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
Elimination Game |
1 PM |
Live Stats |
|
| 4 |
Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 |
4 PM |
Live Stats |
|
| Saturday, May 3 |
| Matchup |
Time |
Stream/Stats |
Result |
| 5 |
Loser of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 3
Elimination Game |
1 PM |
Live Stats |
|
| 6 |
Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 |
4 PM |
Live Stats |
|
| Sunday, May 4 |
| Matchup |
Time |
Stream/Stats |
Result |
| 7 |
Loser of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 6
if necessary |
1 PM |
Live Stats |
|
