THIBODAUX, La. - Looking to claim a fourth consecutive series win and a third straight against Southeastern, the Nicholls State University softball team suffered its first run-rule loss in conference as the Lions cruised to a 13-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at Swanner Field at Geo Surfaces Park.

Following her dominating showing against Southeastern (41-11, 22-2 SLC) on Friday, Averi Paden lasted only 1.2 innings as the Lions plated seven runs in the second inning. SLU continued to hit all three Colonel pitchers as they finished with 14 hits, adding four runs in the third and two more in the fifth to take the series.

Nicholls (27-20, 15-9 SLC) prevented the shutout with an RBI single by Reagan Heflin in the fourth inning. She and Erin Krause had the lone hits for the Colonels.

SLU's Hallie Burns gave up the two hits in 3.2 innings of work, walked none and struck out two. Paden allowed four earned runs on seven hits while Molly Yoo gave up four runs on seven hits in an inning. Sierra Ouellette pitched the final 2.1 innings for the Colonels with two runs and one strikeout.

SLU's decisive inning was fueled by seven hits and two Colonel errors. Cydnee Schneider capped the frame with an RBI single and had a big day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with four RBIs. She also finished the four-run third inning with an RBI double.

Nicholls took advantage of a pair of walks in the fourth to set up Heflin's RBI base hit up the middle. She is now tied with Krause for the team lead with 32 RBIs.

On Deck
Nicholls will enter the final week of play still in contention for the No. 2 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament. The Colonels finished the regular season on the road with a three-game series at Northwestern State, starting on Friday, April 24.