NATCHITOCHES, La. - Needing wins and some help around the league, the Nicholls State University softball team took care of business Friday against Northwestern State as the Colonels won the series opener, 6-0, and followed with a 15-6 run-rule victory to sweep the doubleheader at Demon Diamond.
Nicholls (29-20, 17-9 SLC) and Northwestern State (23-27, 12-14 SLC) will finish the series on Saturday with a 12 p.m. first pitch.
With the two victories and two losses by UIW against Southeastern, Nicholls moved into second place and lead McNeese by 0.5 games after the Cowgirls' Game 2 was suspended at East Texas A&M. A win on Saturday by Nicholls would secure the No. 2 seed regardless of McNeese's Saturday results. As the 2-seed, Nicholls would host one half of next week's eight-team Southland Conference Tournament.
Game 1 - Nicholls 6, Northwestern State 0
Molly Yoo picked up her third shutout of the season while
Madison Moak and
Claire Sisco had three hits each in the Colonels' 6-0 victory to open the series.
Moak not only finished 3-for-3 at the plate, but totaled four RBIs and reached base all four times by adding a walk. Sisco scored twice and got things started with a triple in the third inning, setting up a Moak RBI single for a 1-0 advantage.
The lead came right after the Demons threatened in the second, loading the bases with one out. But Yoo forced two grounders on the left side and both resulted in an out at the plate to keep the game scoreless.
Yoo struck out three over the next two frames before the Colonels added three runs in the fifth. Sisco scored on a Moak double off the wall, and
Erin Krause followed with a run-scoring single to right.
Kayleigh Lugowski pushed the lead to 4-0 with a two-out RBI single.
In the sixth, Nicholls tacked on two more two-out RBIs as Moak singled to right to plate pinch-runner
Hailee Sanchez and
Laylin Sturm.
Yoo allowed a single in the bottom half before retiring the Demons in order in the seventh to finish off the shutout. She gave up five hits and struck out four.
Mattison Buster took the loss with six runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings. Brynn Daniel led the Demons with two hits.
Game 2 - Nicholls 15, Northwestern State 6 (5 inn.)
Kayleigh Lugowski and
Lilianna Robledo homered in the opening inning to fuel a 7-run frame and the Colonels went on to pick up a run-rule victory.
Madison Moak had another 3-for-3 game while
Reagan Heflin and Robledo had two hits apiece. After NSU walked the first three batters of the game, Heflin made the score 2-0 with a base hit to right field.
With two on and still no outs, Lugowski smashed a 1-0 pitch over the wall to make it 5-0. Then after
Gabby Higbee singled, Robledo cleared the wall in left for a 2-run homer.
Despite the hot start, the Demons answered with three runs in the bottom half, however, Nicholls got all three runs back in the second. Moak doubled and scored on an error before Higbee drew a bases loaded walk for an RBI.
Brynne Songy capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
In the third, the Demons tagged
Averi Paden with four hits to plate a run. But
Sierra Ouellette was able to limit the damage by retiring the next two batters to keep the score at 10-4. Paden tossed 2.1 innings in her start, allowing seven hits while striking out one.
Nicholls made it 13-4 in the fourth with RBI singles by
Laylin Sturm and Moak. But NSU countered with two runs in their half, highlighted by a Peyton Young run-scoring single. Young finished with a three-hit game for the Demons.
In the fifth, Songy added another sac fly to put the run-rule into play, and Robledo tacked on an insurance run with an RBI groundout. Ouellette allowed a one-out single before ending the game in the fifth on a flyout to left.
Ouellette earned the victory with 2.2 innings of relief, allowing two runs on three hits and struck out one. For NSU, Erin Kirkland took the loss after walking the only three batters she faced to start the game.
