April 27
April 23, 2007April 25
April 25, 2007
From NSU Sports Information
The Colonels avenged their two defeats on Saturday by beating McNeese State 3-0 on Sunday to avoid the sweep at Cowgirl Diamond.
“We came out and executed in all aspects of the game today,” said head coach Jenny Parsons. “Kodi (Butler) threw a great game, and we scored runs to back her up in the circle.”
Sophomore Kodi Butler got the starting nod in the circle for the Colonels (23-22, 12-11), and pitched her way out of a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the first.†After Butler got Nicholls out of the early jam, the Colonels responded with a one run two hit second inning to take a 1-0 lead.†The run came on an RBI single by junior Rachel Pugh that zoomed past the short stop to score senior Jacqueline Pacheco from second.
The Colonels’ one run second was the only run scored in the game until sophomore Danielle Clayton hit a bomb over the scoreboard in left field that scored Pacheco to give the Colonels a 3-0 lead after five and a half innings.
The three runs that the Colonels put on the scoreboard proved to be enough for the shutout win.†Butler picked up her sixth win of the season to improve to 6-2 on the season in the circle, and went 2-for-3 at the plate to help her cause. Clayton’s homerun was the Colonels first homerun in five games.
On Saturday, the Colonels dropped a doubleheader to McNeese, losing the first game 4-0, and the second game 3-2.
The Colonels will pick up the bats again on Wednesday when they travel to Mobile, Ala., to take on South Alabama in the non-conference midweek doubleheader.†The first game is set for 3 p.m. with the second contest beginning at 5 p.m.†Nicholls will return home on Saturday to face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1 and 3 p.m. in conference action.
Baseball team swept by Northwestern St.
Northwestern State took game three from the Nicholls Colonels, 6-4, Sunday afternoon to sweep the three-game weekend series at Brown-Stroud Field.
Michael Bartek (0-9) suffered the loss for the Colonels, giving up six runs, all earned, on 10 hits, while fanning five, through eight complete innings of work. Demons starter Ben Rodriguez (2-3) received the win, allowing three runs, all unearned on seven hits, in five innings. Ryan Campbell worked a scoreless ninth for his seventh save of the season.
Keith Kulbeth, Whitney Dawes, Shane Barksdale and Anthony Marino each picked up two hits for the Colonels. Dawes contributed a homerun, two RBI and one run scored. Chase Lyles led Northwestern State at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a homerun, two RBI and one run scored.
Northwestern State took a 3-0 lead with a run in the first and two more in the second. Clay Baker led off the bottom of the first inning with a single up the middle, advanced to second on a Dylan Libadison groundout, was sent to third on a Bartek wild pitch and scored the first run of the game on a Brandon Richey RBI groundout to Kulbeth at shortstop. A single by Anthony Jones and Rhett Abraham walk placed runners at first and second to begin the second inning. After a Justin O’Neal sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, a Lyles infield single scored Jones and sent Abraham to third. Baker’s grounder to Kulbeth was misplayed, which allowed Abraham to score the second run of the inning, giving Northwestern State the 3-0 lead. Bartek was able to stop any further damage after inducing back-to-back groundouts.
Nicholls got two runs back in the top of third inning. After Kulbeth reached first base on an error by the third baseman, Dawes nailed a two-out homerun, his second of the season, over the left field fence to cut the lead, 3-2.
The Demons responded with two runs of their own in their half of the inning, on a Mike Jaworski two-run homer to left field.
The Colonels answered back with a run in the top of the fourth inning. Zac Bone reached first on an error by the first baseman, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a Kulbeth single up the middle and then scored on a Patrick Thompson RBI groundout.
Nicholls trimmed the Northwestern State lead to 5-4 in the sixth inning. New Demon pitcher Jason Grace walked Quinton Corley to start the inning. After Kulbeth sacrificed Corley to second, Thompson lined a single up the middle to score Corley from second.
Lyles’ solo shot over the left field fence in the bottom of the sixth brought the Demon lead back to two runs at 6-4.
Just as they did yesterday, the Colonels mounted a threat in the top of the ninth. A hit batsman and a walk put the first two batters on base with no one out. But, the Colonels were unable to get the big hit, to tie the game. In the game, Nicholls left a total of 11 runners on base, nine of which were in scoring position.
Nicholls lost the first two games of the series 7-3 and 3-1.
Nicholls stays on the road for a midweek game against Tulane on Wednesday. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. at Zephyr Field.
