HAMMOND, La. - Senior Molly VandenBout notched her second shutout of the season while the Colonels' three extra-base hits drove in a run as the No. 3 seed Nicholls State University softball team defeated No. 7 HCU, 4-0, to avoid elimination in Day 2 of the Southland Conference Tournament at North Oak Park. 

With the win, Nicholls (30-23) advances in the Hammond Bracket to take on the No. 6 SFA, which fell in the winner's bracket to No. 2 Southeastern Friday evening. The Colonels and Lumberjacks will play on Saturday at 1 p.m. for a spot in the championship round set to begin immediately after at 4 p.m.

VandenBout scattered six hits and struck out five, matching her season high in strikeouts which also came in her previous start against HCU (17-33). She also had just one walk as she secured her second shutout of the year.

For the offense, Laylin Sturm and Brynne Songy both doubled, while Reagan Heflin tripled for one of her two hits. Sturm got things going in the third when she roped a shot into the left center gap, bringing home Ally Mooneyham from first. On the play, Sturm got caught in a rundown between second and third base, and the ball was thrown away allowing her to score for a 2-0 lead.

Then in the sixth, Erin Krause singled before Heflin laced a hit into the right center gap for a triple. Songy followed with a shot off the wall in left to make it 4-0. 

VandenBout allowed two singles in the seventh but was able to preserve the shutout. 

The defense had three errors with one coming in the fourth after a leadoff walk. But Claire Sisco fielded a grounder and threw the runner out at home to keep HCU off the board. Then in the next frame, shortstop Mooneyham threw out another runner at the plate trying to score on a grounder.

Cara Pitman suffered the loss for the Huskies, lasting 5.1 innings with four earned runs on six hits. 

The win gave Nicholls back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 2018 and '19.