NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State leadoff hitter
Elise Vincent tied a career-high with three hits, but Nicholls pitcher Megan Landry controlled the rest of the game in a 9-0 Southland Conference Tournament loss for the Lady Demons in five innings.
No. 6 seed NSU (30-26) will face elimination in a loser's bracket game against No. 4 Stephen F. Austin (34-20) today at 4:30 p.m.
For Nicholls, Landry (26-10) tossed a four-hit shutout with five strikeouts and one hit batter.
NSU put pressure on Landry early with a Vincent single and a
Cayla Jones hit by pitch, but Landry stranded them in scoring position by getting the final two outs.
After Nicholls scored two runs in the second inning, NSU had another chance to score when Jones hit a deep fly ball to right field. A stiff wind knocked down the potential home run that could have tied the game, and NSU put only one other runner in scoring position for the rest of the game.
NSU committed a season-high five errors in the loss, leading to six of Nicholls' nine runs being unearned. The errors were made by five different players.
A Kali Clement double and an error set up a Caitlin Garcia sacrifice fly RBI, one of five Garcia RBIs.
Garcia (1-for-1) had a third-inning sacrifice fly RBI and three-run home run in the fifth inning.
Sophomore pitcher
E.C. Delafield (10-4) suffered just her third loss against an SLC member, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits with four strikeouts. Delafield struck out the side in the first inning.
But Nicholls scored a pair of runs in the second and third innings before hanging five in the fourth inning.
Junior reliever
Samantha Guile started the fourth inning with four of her five runs unearned.
A pair of one-out errors contributed to Nicholls' big inning, highlighted by Garcia's three-run home run.
Nicholls won all three regular-season meetings in Thibodeaux with the help of eight NSU errors in that series.
The Lady Demons compiled one of the top fielding percentages in the SLC this season at .965.
The SLC Tournament which brings seven teams and their fan bases to Natchitoches for several days, is supported by the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission and the Natchitoches Convention and Tourism Bureau.
