Nicholls Pulls Away from Alcorn Twice During Doubleheader

LORMAN, Miss. – Although the games were closer than the scores indicated, Nicholls State grabbed a pair of games from the Alcorn State University softball program 6-1 and 8-1 Tuesday at the Alcorn Softball Complex.
 
Alcorn (1-5) did not trail after four innings in either game. Nicholls (5-2) scored four runs in the fifth in game one, and two runs in the fifth and six in the seventh in game two to create distance.
 
The Lady Braves were hurt by four errors in game one and three in game two.
 
"I don't know if it is coaching or what, but we're not doing a very good job of catching and throwing right now. Maybe we have to hold ourselves a little more accountable in practice or find players who will be able to make those plays," said head coach Josef Rankin. "We have a few days to get back at it, get better and come back out on Friday."
 
Freshman Malea Dickerson registered a pair of hits in game one, and senior Mariah Ortiz did the same for Alcorn in game two. Ortiz raised her batting average to a team-high .400 on the year.
 
"There were some positives from today. We pitched well, but when you give a good team extra outs it's going to come back to bite you," Rankin said. "We fought all day, but we have to find a way to play well from inning one to inning seven and we haven't been able to do that yet."
 
With a hit in each game, senior Taylor Hughes now has 148 in her career. She's three away from tying the school's all-time record.
 
Game One
After the Colonels grabbed an unearned run in the first inning, the Lady Braves tied it in the third with a two-out RBI single to left center by junior Victoria Tyler. It plated Ortiz who singled to left and advanced to second on a hit by freshman Desirea Lindsey to left center.
 
The game was still tied until the fifth when Nicholls was able to take advantage of Alcorn's defensive miscues. The Colonels plated four runs, all of which were unearned after a pair of errors.
 
Nicholls added an insurance run in the seventh to go up 6-1.
 
The hits in the game were nearly even as the Colonels held a slight 7-6 edge. Though, Nicholls did not commit an error in the game and Alcorn had four.
 
Senior Robin Harrison threw a complete-game and struck out six. Six of the seven runs allowed were unearned.
 
Megan Landry picked up the win for Nicholls after allowing one run in six innings. She struck out seven. Amanda Gianelloni and Kali Clement each recorded a pair of hits at the plate.
 
Game Two
The Lady Braves led for most of the game. They got it started in the first with an RBI single to right center by Hughes. It scored Ortiz who led-off with a single to right and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lindsey.
 
Alcorn was still on top until the fifth when Nicholls strung together four hits for a pair of runs.
 
The Lady Braves had a great opportunity in the sixth when Ortiz singled to center and Hughes walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Though, Nicholls' Alexis LaBure was able to get out of the jam with a pop out and a line out.
 
Defensive errors plagued Alcorn again in the seventh as the Colonels batted around for six runs after three errors. Four of the six runs were unearned.
 
Amanda Holliday started for Nicholls and tossed 5.0 innings to register the win. LaBure entered in a one-run game in the sixth and threw the final 2.0 innings to record the save.
 
Junior Paige Taylor surrendered just two runs in 5.0 innings and took the loss. Sophomore Ambria Dorsey threw the last 2.0 frames.
 
Up next, the Lady Braves will compete in the LA Tech Invitational over the weekend. They'll play their first of five games on Friday at 1 p.m. when they take on UMass-Lowell. Alcorn will also play Saint Louis, South Dakota, Missouri State and LA Tech.
 
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