BATON ROUGE, La. - The Nicholls State University softball team came up short in both contests on Saturday at the LSU Invitational, falling 8-5 to Iowa and 5-2 against Memphis.
Nicholls (9-8) will wrap up the weekend on Sunday with an 11 a.m. rematch against Memphis.
Game 1 - Iowa 8, Nicholls 5
Nicholls erased an early deficit with a five-run third inning, but it would not be enough as the Colonels dropped an 8-5 decision to Iowa.
After Iowa used a five-run second inning to take control, the Colonels responded with their biggest offensive frame of the day in the third.
In her first start of the season,
Sydni Stevens ignited the rally with a solo home run to left field to put Nicholls on the board. Later in the inning,
Laylin Sturm scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Nicholls continued to apply pressure as
Erin Krause and
Claire Sisco both came around to score following a fielding error at first base, trimming the lead to one. The Colonels tied the game at 5-5 when
Sydney Mann crossed the plate during a double-play sequence, capping the five-run surge.
Iowa answered in the fourth inning with three runs to regain momentum. A two-RBI double pushed the Hawkeyes back in front before a sacrifice fly added an insurance run to make it 8-5.
Sisco paced the offense with two hits and a stolen base.
In the circle,
Averi Paden was tagged with the loss, allowing three runs in 1.1 innings of relief.
Game 2 - Memphis 5, Nicholls 2
Nicholls built an early lead in its second outing of the day but Memphis scored five unanswered runs to claim a 5-2 victory.
The Colonels struck first in the second inning when
Madison Moak launched her second home run of the week to center field to put Nicholls on the board.
Nicholls added to its lead in the third. Sisco worked her way aboard and later scored on an RBI double to left center by Krause, extending the advantage to 2-0.
Memphis responded in the fourth with an RBI double to cut the deficit in half. The Tigers then took control in the fifth inning, stringing together timely hits. A two-RBI single gave Memphis its first lead of the game, and another RBI knock later in the frame pushed the margin to 4-2.
The Tigers added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI double to left center to make it 5-2.
Nicholls finished with seven hits, paced by Krause with two hits and an RBI.
Gabby Higbee also recorded two hits and added a stolen base. Moak accounted for the Colonels' other RBI with her solo shot.
In the circle, Yoo took the loss after working 4.1 innings.
Sierra Ouellette and Paden combined to provide relief, with Paden tossing two scoreless innings to close the game.
