Southern Miss
Nicholls State
Softball Team Woes Continue, Fall to Nicholls State, 8-7
3/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 24, 2010
THIBODAUX, La. - Nicholls State scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to take an 8-7 win over Southern Miss softball team Wednesday night in a mid-week non-conference game at the Colonels Softball Complex.
The Golden Eagles dropped their seventh consecutive game, and fell to 12-11 on the season while Nicholls improved to 15-9.
"We are continuing to have the same problems, having too many errors and walking too many batters," Coach Howard Dobson said. "You don't win games when two of the three components are working. We had 13 hits, but our defense and pitching let us down."
Lacey Gros (8-3) earned the win for the Colonels after coming on in relief to pitch the final 3.2 innings giving up four runs on six hits. Gabby Luciani (4-4) got the loss for Southern Miss as she lasted only 2.2 innings, giving up four runs on six hits.
Nicholls State started the bottom half of the seventh when Kayla Watterson reached third on a three-base error to left. Pinch runner Tsade Joubert scored off a Natalie Travasos double to right center. Luciani returned to the circle and Mandy Granger then singled to right, scoring Travasos to tie the game at 7-7 with no outs. Pinch runner Carlee Winkelman moved on to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ashton Bennett then moved to third on a check swing by pinch hitter Lauren Batiz. Gros drew her third walk of the game to put runners at the corners. Megan Gaspard was intentionally walked to load the bases and Lyndsay Mesh delivered a single to right to score Winkelman for the winning run.
Southern Miss opened the inning with back-to-back hits when Leslie LeJune led off with a single to second. Britney Dinelt delivered a double down the left field line to score LeJune. Wood then settled in and retired the next three batters in order.
Nicholls answered back in the bottom half of the frame to take a 2-1 lead as Gaspard singled past third, but was erased on a fielder's choice by Mesh. Audrey Wood and Watterson drew walks to load the bases before Travasos lined a 2-2 pitch to center for a hit and advance to second on the throw while scoring Wood and Mesh. Watterson went to third. Luciani then got Granger to pop out to second and Bennett flew out to right to end the inning.
The Colonels added a run in the bottom of the third when Wood led off with a double to center and scored on a single through the right side by Watterson. Courtney Ramos came on in relief and retired the next three batters in order.
The Golden Eagles came back to tie the game at 3-all in the top of the fourth when Logan James singled to short. Alexis Hurley followed single to right, moving pinch runner Casey Jo Matthews to third. Danielle LaPointe then hit a deep fly ball to left to score Matthews. Chanell Thurman then hit a towering shot to left that bounced off the bottom of the fence for a stand up double, moving Hurley to third. Brandi Alonzo had a sacrifice fly to center to score Hurley.
Nicholls regained the lead in the bottom half of the frame as Gros drew a walk and advance to second on a single by Gaspard. Gros advanced to third on a deep fly to right and came across to score on a pass ball.
Southern Miss put two more runs in the fifth with two out when Megan Hill hit her first triple of the season and scored when James singled up the middle. Hurley followed with a double to center, scoring James from first to give the Eagles a 5-4 lead.
Nicholls tied the game in the bottom of the sixth as Gros drew a walk then came around to score off a double to by Mesh.
Mathis lined a single into left to start the seventh inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hill. James singled up the middle off the glove of the pitcher before Hurley came up with a big double to right center to score Mathis and James to give the Eagles a 7-5 lead. The Golden Eagles left two runners in scoring position as Gros was able to get Alonzo looking to end the inning.
Southern Miss out hit Nicholls 13-9, but left eight runners on base that included six in scoring positions. Hurley finished the night 4-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs.
The Golden Eagles must regroup as they head back into conference play, hosting UCF in a three-game series this weekend. The Saturday doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. and the Sunday game is slated to start at noon.
