The Lady Colonel softball team departed last Thursday to head to Plant City, Fla., but clouds casts over the shine of the Lady Colonels as they fell to Florida Atlantic, Mississippi State and North Carolina in the Speedline Tournament hosted by South Florida.
Florida Atlantic 7, Nicholls State 3
Mississippi State 8, Nicholls State 0
It seemed evident that the Lady Colonels had their chance against Florida Atlantic (24-3) when they responded immediately in the fourth inning, putting three runs on the board after FAU put four points on the board in the first three innings.
In the fourth inning, freshman Jamee Henry smashed a three-RBI double to score Sara Eads, Monica Hebert and Julie Rodriguez. The retaliating Florida team answered back with a run in the bottom of the fourth and two more in the sixth to close out the contest.
Three pitchers saw play at the mound for Nicholls during the game. Christina Hanson took play for three innings while Nichole Wagner and Fallon Cancienne took the rest of the game. Each team had ten hits as Henry, Eads, Hebert and Jen Paray each had two.
“Defense did a really good job this weekend,” Wagner said. “We were able to do the right stuff at the right time.”
In the second game against Mississippi State, MSU’s Melissa Massey struck out five and walked two to record her first no-hitter for her collegiate career. In the third inning, she worked her way out of trouble as Nicholls had runners on second and third with one out.
From that point on, she retired nine of the next ten batters she faced, issuing a sixth-inning walk to Rodriguez. Duffi Matherne took the loss for Nicholls, going 4 2/3 innings allowing six hits and seven runs while striking out one and walking four. Lori Blanco came on to close things out, working 2/3 of an inning and allowing one hit.
We are still improving everyday,” Wagner said. “We are learning from our mistakes.”
Mississippi State had seven hits and made two errors while leaving seven runners stranded on the base paths. The Lady Colonels made three errors by leaving five on base for the game.
North Carolina 4, Nicholls 2
The Lady Colonels closed out play in the 24-team Speedline Tournament Saturday afternoon falling to North Carolina 4-2. Freshman pitcher Nichole Wagner struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings of play while the Lady Colonels’ bats connected for seven hits.
The scoring was opened up in the first inning by Nicholls when sophomore Jen Sladky made a bases loaded walk to score Paray. Two batters later, Matherne walked to bring in Eads.
Nicholls led until the bottom of the fourth when the Tar Heels pushed a pair of runs across the plate to tie the game. An inning later, UNC excelled for the rest of the game, scoring two runs on two of the Lady Colonels’ errors.
“We are slowly picking up the pace in everything,” Wagner said. “It is going to take some time, but we’ll get there.”
Offensively, the Nicholls was led by Eads and Hebert who each had two hits and earned two runs, was relieved by Hanson who struck out one and walked one in her 1 1/3 innings of action.
Each team registered seven hits while the Tar Heels made twice as many errors as Nicholls. The Colonels stranded ten runners on base while UNC left on seven.
“We got off to a rough start, but I am satisfied with the way the team has been working together,” Wagner said. “I still think that we have a chance at winning conference.”
