Nicholls State gives Lady Tigers stiff competition

In what could have been considered the “Super Bowl” for Nicholls softball, the Colonels welcomed 18th ranked LSU to the Colonels Softball Complex last week.

It’s nothing unusual, as the Tigers have been regular visitors to Thibodaux for several years.

However, what ensued last week was the small Thibodaux school pushing the Tigers to the brink and coming within two outs of pulling off the upset, nearly snapping the Tigers’ 17-game win streak.

For a team with no seniors on the roster like the Tigers, it would have been easy to fold, but it was a freshman that came up big for the Tigers and sent them back to Baton Rouge with another win on their resume.

The Tigers can thank freshman Juliana Santos for stepping up in the clutch. Santos’ RBI triple in the top of the seventh tied the game at one.

A ball off the leg of Colonels’ third baseman Kayla Watterson accounted for the Tigers’ last run in the 2-1 thriller in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

Thibodaux was the only in-state competitor the Tigers have visited on the road so far this season. The Feb. 18 game against Southeastern in Hammond was rained out. Their final in-state battle on the road is Sunday against McNeese State in Lake Charles.

Nine-year LSU head softball coach Yvette Girouard knows her team is in for a challenge every time they step off the bus, sometimes more so against smaller schools because they see it as an opportunity.

It was the 17th straight win against the Colonels for the Tigers, but Girouard said her team had to work for it.

“We don’t expect to walk off the bus and beat anyone,” she said. “We expected the best from Nicholls, just like we do anyone else we play. It’s great to pack the park anywhere we go in the state, it really says a lot about this team.”

“We know we’re going to get everyone’s best shot. Nicholls tried to give us theirs, but thankfully we found a way to win,” she added.

In the opposite dugout, Nicholls head coach Jenny Parsons said the game was a testament to her team, that the Colonels aren’t far off from the top teams in the country.

“They are the 18th team in the country, and we had a chance to beat them,” Parsons boasted. “I cannot say enough about (junior) Audrey Wood, she pitched well.”

“The ball Santos hit, I called for it to be outside and it probably wasn’t far enough outside. She didn’t play the whole game and is one of LSU’s better hitters. My hat goes off to LSU. They have a good team,” she added.

In fact, the game-tying triple was Santos’ first and only at-bat of the game. Despite being the Tigers’ top freshman hitter with a .292 average, three homeruns and 17 RBIs, Santos was not expected to play.

Girouard said she intended to rest Santos – who usually starts every game – because of an injury, but felt the situation presented itself to put her in.

“We tried to rest her because she has a pretty banged up toe but we needed her in that situation,” she said. “She came through.”

Another freshman, Brittany Mack, provided three innings of relief for the Tigers’ sophomore Casey Faile. Faile allowed one run on one hit while striking out six Colonels.

Mack pitched three innings, allowing no runs with only one hit and six strikeouts.

The lone two hits for the Colonels were from senior Kodi Butler and junior Lyndsey Mesh.

It was the 11th come-from-behind win on the road this season for the young Tigers (23-9-1), who’ve had to rely on sheer determination and solid pitching all season long.

Of the 13 Tiger players who saw the field against the Colonels in one way or another, six were freshmen, which is nothing new for the Tigers.

For a team with no senior leadership, Girouard has been pleased overall with the way her team has powered themselves to second place in the SEC West with an 8-5-1 conference record.

They are tied for third place overall in the SEC.

“We just have to keep fighting,” she said. “These girls work hard.”