Southern Miss Softball Travels to Nicholls State for Midweek Matchup

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss softball team (5-0) will travel to Thibodaux, La. for their first road contest of the 2019 season on Wednesday. The Golden Eagles will face Nicholls State (3-2) at 6:00 p.m. (CT) at the Colonel Softball Complex.

Southern Miss started the season off the right way by sweeping the Black and Gold Invitational in Hattiesburg this past weekend. Over the course of the weekend, the Golden Eagles scored a total of 47 runs and posted a team batting average of .400 (48-for-120). Southern Miss' high potent offense notched 10 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 35 RBI, 74 total bases, 18 walks, a .617 slugging percentage, and a .493 on-base percentage.

The Golden Eagles also benefited from several masterful pitching performances. The Southern Miss pitching staff composed of juniors Abby Trahan and Bailie Springfield along with freshmen Kaylan Ladner and Makenna Pierce, limited opponents to just 12 runs (six earned) over the span of five games. The staff went a combined 5-0, struck out 18 batters in 28.0 innings pitched, and currently hold a 1.50 staff ERA.

Black and Gold Invitational Results (Southern Miss)

Friday, February 8    vs. Houston Baptist    W, 9-0 (5 innings)

Friday, February 8    vs. Central Arkansas    W, 12-4 (6 innings)

Saturday, February 9    vs. Tennessee Tech    W, 8-6

Saturday, February 9    vs. Houston Baptist    W, 9-1 (5 innings)

Sunday, February 10    vs. Jackson State    W, 9-1 (5 innings)

Batting leaders
Senior second baseman Chase Nelson led the way for the Golden Eagles in multiple offensive categories over the weekend including: hits (9), runs scored (9), triples (2), total bases (13) and at-bats (16).

Sophomore center fielder Destini Brown finished the weekend as the team's leader in batting average (.583) and stolen bases (2).

Sophomore third baseman Alyssa "Tata" Davis paced the team in slugging percentage (1.091), on-base percentage (.667), doubles (3) and tied for the most walks on the team (4).

Senior catcher Samantha Papp, junior shortstop Lacey Sumerlin and freshman left fielder Madison Rayner ended the weekend tied as the team's RBI leader after collecting six each.

Pitching leaders
Trahan leads the staff with a 1.17 ERA, two wins, 12.0 innings pitched, nine strikeouts, two appearances and two games started.

Springfield who tossed a one-hitter against Jackson State on Sunday, leads the staff with a B/Avg of .063. She also allowed the fewest amount of hits (1), runs allowed (1), and earned runs allowed (1).

The opponent
Nicholls State opened their 2019 season with a 9-0 run-rule win over Southern Illinois in the Lion Classic in Hammond, La. on Friday.

The Colonels fell to the Southern Illinois Salukis by a final score of 6-7 on Saturday and then bounced back in their next game of the day, defeating San Jose State, 3-2.

Nicholls State wrapped up their time at the Lion Classic on Sunday with a 4-2 against San Jose State and a 1-2 loss to Northern Illinois.

Breaking down the all-time record
Nicholls State currently leads the all-time series 41-13. The Golden Eagles are 8-20 when facing the Colonels in Hattiesburg, 2-15 in contests played in Thibodaux and 3-6 in neutral site matchups.

The last time that the Golden Eagles and the Colonels met on the diamond was Wednesday, March 28 2018 at the Colonel Softball Complex in Thibodaux, La. Nicholls State won the game by a final score of 2-0.

Fans can follow the road action on the diamond via live updates through the official Southern Miss softball Twitter account (@SouthernMissSB) or via the SIDEARM Sports live stats link located on the home page southernmiss.com.

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics

Southern Miss Softball Travels to Nicholls State for Midweek Matchup

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Players Mentioned

Destini Brown

Kaylan Ladner

Chase Nelson

Samantha Papp

Makenna Pierce

Madison Rayner

Bailie Springfield

Lacey Sumerlin

Abby Trahan

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