THIBODAUX, La. – In a series that meant nothing as far as standings and postseason seeding are concerned, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi softball team dropped three straight to Nicholls after losing both ends of the doubleheader Saturday, 7-1 and 1-0.
Nicholls took the opener of the doubleheader 7-1 behind 5.1 innings from Molly Yoo, who ended the Islanders' season a year ago with a four-hit shutout at the Southland Conference tournament.
Nicholls (29-24 overall, 16-8 SLC) scored first in the second inning after getting a double with one out. The runner moved to third on a passed ball and came in to score on a sacrifice bunt. The Colonels broke it open in the fifth on three hits, two stolen bases and one error, scoring twice to bump the lead to 3-0.
The Islanders (21-21, 9-15) – who knew they were playing HCU in the play-in game at the SLC tournament on Tuesday regardless of the outcome of this series – got their first and only run of the series in the top of sixth after
Isabella Hune led off with an infield single. After a groundout,
Monee Montilla doubled to left-center field on a full count to drive in Hune, making it 3-1 and spelling the end of Yoo's day.
Lefty Averi Paden came in to get Nicholls out of trouble, then the Colonels got the run back and more when four of the first five batters in the bottom of the sixth reached base, spelling the end of
Ariella Saenz's day.
Sydney Hoyt came on in relief, marking her first appearance in the circle this season after previously logging 29 appearances in her career.
Nicholls ended up scoring four times to take a 7-1 lead heading to the seventh, though Hoyt was able to get out of trouble without further damage. The Islanders got a runner on in the seventh but nothing more.
With nothing on the line, the Islanders substituted liberally as 15 different players saw game action in the first game, and 14 saw the field in the second.
One of those to see action in the finale was sophomore
Malia Williams, who got her fifth start of the year in the circle but was making her first appearance in almost a month. She last pitched a third of an inning on April 5 against Southeastern, giving up a run on a hit and two walks. It went much better this time.
Williams gave up a run in the first inning and then nothing more, allowing just the one run on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts in six innings. It was the longest outing of her career and the first complete game of her career. Unfortunately, Audrey McNeill was on the other side.
McNeill, who is in the top 10 in the SLC in six different categories, was coming off a 2-0 complete-game shutout of the Islanders in the opener on Friday in which she allowed just three hits. Saturday, she did it again.
McNeill tossed another three-hit shutout, as Hune, Montilla and
Sydney Hoyt were the only Islanders to collect a hit.
The Islanders may not have to wait long to see the Colonels again. Thanks to the sweep and UIW losing 2-of-3 to Northwestern State, Nicholls will be the No. 3 seed at the SLC tournament and play the winner of the TAMUCC-HCU game at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
TAMUCC (21-21, 9-15 SLC)
Friday, May 3 – at Nicholls, L (2-0)
Friday, May 4 – at Nicholls, L (7-1)
Saturday, May 4 – at Nicholls, L (1-0)
On Deck: This was the final regular-season series of the year. The Islanders next will play in the Southland Conference Tournament beginning Tuesday, May 7 and lasting until Friday, May 10 in Hammond, La. TAMU-CC will face HCU in the opening game of the tournament at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7 in a single play-in game. If the Islanders win, they will move on to the double-elimination portion of the tournament and face the No. 3 seed at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The No. 3 seed is Nicholls.
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