DIGITAL DIALOG
April 4, 2017
Suspect charged after allegedly breaking into the same house 2 days in a row
April 4, 2017
The Nicholls softball team’s Southland Conference winning streak ended this past weekend in the hills of Conway, Arkansas.
But the team’s streak of series victories is still very much intact, thanks to a little clutch hitting and some extra inning magic.
The Colonels took two out of three games from Central Arkansas this weekend, improving themselves to 10-2 in conference play and 24-12 overall on the season.
The series was a tough one.
The Colonels lost the first-half of Friday’s double header 6-1 – one of their most lopsided losses of the season.
They rebounded and won two-straight after that, but both came in dramatic fashion. Friday’s second game saw the Colonels blow a 1-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, before eventually recovering and winning in extra innings.
Saturday’s game was a good one, too – a one run affair most of the way until the Colonels added late insurance.
Nicholls coach Angel Santiago likely wasn’t surprised. He said earlier this season that the Southland Conference is one of the most underrated leagues in the country in college softball.
“There are a lot of quality teams in our league,” Santiago said. “That’s a challenge. We have to play well to succeed here. There are a lot of established, well-built programs that have had a lot of success in this league. We take a lot of pride in trying to win the conference championship, because we know that’s a great honor.”
The series in Arkansas definitely fit the description that Santiago gave.
In Friday’s double header, Central Arkansas played as well as they’ve played all season, challenging the Colonels heavily throughout two games and 15 innings of softball.
The first game was no contest.
The Lady Bears scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, then got quality pitching from Kayla Gomness to keep the Colonels off balance.
Nicholls recorded just four hits in that game – a 6-1 loss. The Colonels did have chances in the game – even in defeat. But a lack of timely hitting didn’t allow Nicholls to take advantage of those chances – namely four errors committed by the Lady Bears.
In the second half of the doubleheader, Central Arkansas nearly won the series, but some late-game heroics let the Colonels push through.
That game was a pitcher’s duel with neither team scoring a run in the first five innings.
The Colonels got on the board first in the top of the sixth inning when leadoff hitter Samantha Mracich pushed through a solid single to start the inning.
After a couple productive at-bats, Mracich found herself to third base with fewer than two outs, which allowed shortstop Amanda Gianelloni to put the Colonels up on a deep sacrifice fly.
But it didn’t hold up.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Central Arkansas battled back when designated hitter Cylla Hill hammered a lead-off triple to start the inning.
One batter later, the score was tied when second baseman Krissy Fontillas hit a fly ball deep enough to tie the game on a sacrifice fly.
Those runs ruined a clean sheet for Nicholls pitcher Jackie Johnson, who was flawless throughout the game.
But it didn’t ruin her opportunity to earn the win.
In the eighth, Nicholls battled back when first baseman Kasey Frederick got a clutch hit, which scored Mrachich to put the Colonels up 2-1.
Later in the inning, Gianelloni struck again, pushing another fly ball into the outfield for a sacrifice, which gave the Colonels a 3-1 lead.
That advantage held up in the bottom of the eighth, as Johnson regained her form and got the Lady Bears down in order to seal the win – her 10th of the season.
Win No. 11 came just 18 hours later.
In the final game of the series, Johnson was dominant again, holding the Lady Bears to just four hits over seven innings for a second-straight complete game victory.
Around Johnson’s dominance in the circle, Nicholls pieced together timely hitting, first taking a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a two-RBI double from Veronica Villafranco, then also plating another in the seventh inning on a sharp RBI single from Gianelloni.
The Lady Bears got their only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, but they didn’t threaten much in the late stages of the game, getting just two hits in the final three innings of the game.
Win the series win, the Colonels kept pace with the upper echelon of the league. Nicholls, McNeese State and Abilene Christian appear to easily be the top teams in the league – each team owning a large advantage over the others in the standings.
But the perceived three-horse race is actually already down to just two.
Abilene Christian is ineligible for postseason play this season, because of their transition to Division I.
They can win the regular season crown, but they cannot compete in the conference tournament, nor can they reach the NCAA Tournament.
The Colonels will get a real close look at Abilene Christian this weekend, as they’ll travel to Texas for a three-game series with the Wildcats.
The first game of the series is scheduled for Friday night.
The teams will then play a doubleheader on Saturday.
The series marks a scheduling advantage for the Colonels. They play both McNeese and Abilene Christian in the regular season, but the other powers don’t face one another, which eliminates the possibility of each team handing losses to one another.
Nicholls infielder Kasey Frederick waits for contact during a game this past week. Frederick helped the Colonels take two out of three games at Central Arkansas this past weekend.
