March Madness makes me into a kid again
March 27, 2019
Person of interest sought in Lafourche burglary
March 27, 2019
BY CASEY GISCLAIR
casey@rushing-media.com
The Nicholls softball team came into the 2019 season with lofty expectations — the preseason pick to repeat as regular season Southland Conference Champions.
Believe the hype.
So far through the early stages of Southland Conference play, the Colonels are flexing their muscles and showing that absolutely among the short list of teams in the discussion to win the conference and push into the NCAA Tournament.
Through a couple weekends, Nicholls sits in first place in the conference with a 5-1 record — fresh off a three-game sweep at Abilene Christian this past weekend.
The Colonels won Friday’s game 12-4, then scored a doubleheader sweep, a 5-4 win, then an 8-0 win to maintain their perch at the top of the Southland standings.
The Colonels are 5-1 and in first place, but the standings are in flux, because Nicholls had an entire weekend series against Incarnate Word get rained out, so they’re one weekend behind everyone else in the league in term of number of games played.
Trailing the Colonels is Southeastern which sits at 7-2 in the conference and Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, Northwestern State, Lamar and McNeese who all sit at 6-3.
The Colonels will make up that rained out series with Incarnate Word on April 9-10 in Thibodaux.
They hope to be as hot during those two days as they were this weekend in Texas.
The Colonels torched Abilene Christian, applying non-stop pressure throughout the game to secure the three-game sweep.
Nicholls corked five home runs and won the series opener 12-4 on Friday night — a score that might be a little bit misleading, because the Colonels did face a challenge in the early stages of that game.
Abilene Christian got two runs in the first, then another in the second to lead 3-0 going to the third.
But Nicholls never panicked.
The Colonels exploded for seven runs in the top of the third inning to grab control of the game.
First baseman Samantha Dares started the damage with an RBI base hit to trim the deficit to 3-1. Catcher Kali Clement delivered the big blow — a towering 3-run home run, which put the Colonels up 4-3.
After getting more players on base, Kennedy Hebert struck again with another 3-run home run to cap the inning and put the team up 7-3.
But the Colonels were just getting started.
Nicholls got one more run in the fourth inning to go up 8-3, then got two runs each in the sixth and seventh innings to send the game to the victory column.
Dares and Clement both unleashed with home runs in the sixth-inning rally to put the Colonels up 10-3.
After Abilene Christian scratched across a run in the bottom half of the inning to trim the deficit to 10-4, Nicholls delivered its final blows in the seventh when Amanda Gianelloni unleashed a home run to polish off the win.
On Saturday, the bats stayed hot.
The Colonels beat Abilene Christian 5-4 in the opening game of the doubleheader to take the series, nearly squandering a late-game lead.
Nicholls led 5-0 going to the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Wildcats plated three in the bottom of the fifth to trim that deficit to 5-3.
They threatened victory late, pushing the bases loaded with two outs — even getting a bases loaded walk to cut the lead to 5-4.
But Nicholls reliever Alexis LaBure successfully relieved starter Emily Danehower, getting the final out to secure the win and series.
There were not any issues in the final game of the series.
After gutting out the hard-fought win, Nicholls soared in the final game of the series, crushing the Wildcats 8-0.
Nicholls scored four runs in the top of the first inning to get the lead and sap the drama out of the game.
Those early runs were plenty enough cushion for pitcher Megan Landry, who was lights out on the mound, allowing just two hits in seven innings — a complete game shutout to improve to 11-5 in the circle on the season.
The Colonels also got another big game from Clement in the win. She slugged a mammoth home run in the victory — her third of the weekend.
With the wins, the Colonels now head toward a busy week.
They’ll travel to Tiger Park and take on LSU tonight at 6 p.m. — a meeting with one of the best teams in the country.
This weekend, the Colonels will take on Sam Houston State at Swanner Field in Thibodaux — a pivotal series in the quest for the Southland crown.
The Lady Bearkats are 6-3 in the Southland and are among the contenders.
A series victory would help the Colonels create a little separation in a bunched up race where seven teams still have eyes on the crown. •
Follow Casey on Twitter for more.
https://twitter.com/casey_gisclair
