Colonels softball keeps momentum rolling

Enemy of the people?

February 22, 2017

Let me tell you about Billy Rebstock …

February 22, 2017

Last year, the Nicholls softball team came out of nowhere and was one of the biggest surprises stories in the entire Southland Conference.

Two weekends into the 2017 season and the Colonels are back at it. Again, they are showing everyone again that they appear to be a legitimate threat to make a push for the league crown and the NCAA Tournament.

The Colonels had another successful weekend to start the new season, winning three out of four games at the Black and Gold Invitational, hosted by Southern Miss.

The Colonels lost their opening game of the weekend on Friday afternoon against Jacksonville State, then closed with a bang.

They mercy-ruled Mississippi Valley State 20-0 on Saturday, then swept a doubleheader with the host Golden Eagles on Sunday to improve to 9-2 on the season.

Nicholls coach Angel Santiago said during the offseason that the Colonels weren’t satisfied with last year’s 39-17 season, and were hungry for much, much more.

So far, it appears that the coach is right and the team is continuing its forward push.

“We want to be the type of program that contends for postseason bids year-in and year-out,” Santiago said during the offseason. “It’s been a long process. It’s been difficult at times to stay patient. But our staff has done an excellent job identifying players who fit what we’re looking for and who can help us get to that level, and we think that we’re in a really strong position going forward.”

So far in the new season, the Colonels have shown the ability to both hit and pitch at a high level.

Offensively, the Colonels are hitting for a .311 average as a team, and they’ve outscored opponents 73-12 in the opening 11 games of the season.

Freshman Samantha Mracich has been a huge spark plug in that success, hitting .459 in the opening two weekends with 11 runs scored and 8 RBI. When not getting a base hit, Mracich has still shown the ability to reach safely, having drawn six walks already on the season.

Mracich isn’t much of a power threat, and 16 of her 17 hits on the season have been singles.

But the Colonels do have a few sluggers, too.

In the heart of the batting order, Nicholls has some pop. Sophomore Amanda Gianelloni has two home runs on the year and junior Sydney Bourg, an LSU transfer, has two doubles and a triple in her eight base hits.

When Nicholls reaches safely, they’re a threat to go station to station.

The Colonels have recorded 18 stolen bases on the season, compared to just five steals allowed.

Bourg is the team leader with four steals in five tries.

“We want to be an offense that puts pressure on the opponent throughout the game,” Santiago said. “We want to be a threat to get on base, steal bases, run the bases well, and we want to be able to manufacture runs throughout the game to pressure our opponents.”

So far, the Colonels’ offense has been lagniappe, because the team’s pitching has been outstanding.

In 11 games, Nicholls has a team-wide 0.82 ERA, and the Colonels’ staff has limited opposing hitters to just a .145 batting average and 33 base hits in 68 innings pitched. Collectively, the staff has also recorded 79 strikeouts, compared to just 34 walks.

Sophomore Megan Landry has been outstanding in the circle for the Colonels, owning a 5-1 record with a 0.70 ERA for the team in seven starts – five of which ended in complete game efforts.

When Landry isn’t out there, senior counterpart Jackie Johnson has been just as good, owning a 3-1 record with a 0.84 ERA in 25.0 innings.

The Colonels will be home today for a doubleheader with Alcorn State. The first game begins at 4 p.m., and the second game starts at 6.

This weekend, the Colonels will be on the road again at the University of Texas-Arlington Invitational.

The Colonels will play five games in three days at the event. On Friday, Nicholls will play a doubleheader with Missouri-Kansas City and UT-Arlington. On Saturday, the team will play Wichita State and then UT-Arlington. On Sunday, the Colonels have a lone game against Wichita State.

BASEBALL GIVES SOLID SHOWING IN HOUSTON

The Colonels baseball team won just one out of three games on opening weekend.

But given the competition, it’s easy to see where brighter days may be ahead in the very near future.

The Colonels were at the University of Houston this weekend, and Nicholls played two games with a Power-5 Conference opponent and another with the host Cougars – a perennial powerhouse program.