THIBODAUX, La. – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team closed its Southland Conference road slate on Saturday with a pair of losses to third-place Nicholls, falling 3-1 and 9-4.
After taking an early lead in both games, the Colonels (31-19, 19-6) held off late comeback bids by the Islanders (11-33, 3-18).
GAME 1
Candice Hadd's solo home run in the seventh could not generate enough offense to overcome a three-run deficit.
For the home side, Haley Stevenson laced a 1-0 offering to left center to bring in Maegen Ellis to open the scoring in the second.
The Islanders nearly tied the game in the top of the fourth.
Mackinzee Griebel reached base to start the inning,
Kandace Johnson singled to right field.
Liz Carter moved the runners into scoring position on grounder to second with one out. Nicholls starter Jackie Johnson (16-10), who tossed a three-hitter with three strikeouts in 6 2/3 inning of work, got out of the jam by forcing the Islanders to foul out and line out.
After stealing second, Samantha Mracich came home on Kasey Fredrick's single in the bottom of the fifth. Nicholls tacked on an insurance run an inning later when Stevenson hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to plate Elexus Trenkle.
Stepping into the box in the seventh, Hadd unleashed the fourth homer of her career on the first pitch of her at-bat.
Johnson (2-16) threw five innings and scattered five hits with two earned runs and two strikeouts.
Liz Carter came on in relief for a hitless inning, allowing one earned run and fanning one.
GAME 2
In the series finale, the Islanders again were playing from behind, but nearly completed the comeback before the Colonels struck for four runs in the final two innings.
With one out in the first, Kasey Fredrick lifted the first pitch she faced over the wall in left to put the hosts up 2-0. Samantha Mracich extended the lead later in the inning with a single to left field.
Liz Carter opened the second with a single and advanced to third through the next two at-bats. The Austin native dashed home when Mracich's offering to
Megan Mitchell was off the mark for a wild pitch.
The hosts tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the second on two hits and an error by the Islanders, before
Mackinzee Griebel doubled to right to score
Aspen Auger from second in the top of the third.
Corpus Christi was the beneficiary of three Nicholls errors in the fifth, part of five miscues for the hosts in the second game.
Aspen Auger and
Lexi Shaw moved into scoring position on a pair of errors, before
Savannah Sandoval walked to load the bases. Griebel reached on an error by the third baseman, letting Auger and Shaw score, cutting the deficit down to one.
Mracich capped her 2-for-4 performance with her third RBI of the game in the fifth, and later scored on a Jessica Taylor single up the middle. Nicholls added two more runs in the sixth on a wild pitch and an RBI groundout.
To go with her outing at the plate, Mracich earned the win, going four innings with three hits and one earned run against. Megan Landry came on for the nine-out shutout save and struck out five.
Carter (9-17) exited after three innings and seven runs, six earned, on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts. In relief, Johnson pitched three innings with two earned runs against on five hits.
ON DECK
The Islanders travel to Austin on Wednesday for its final road game of the season at Texas. The game will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.
STAY SOCIAL
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