Houston Classic next tournament challenge for hot-starting Nicholls softball team

A 4-2 loss to North Dakota was the only blemish in the performance of the Nicholls softball team in last week’s Mardi Gras Mambo in Youngsville, La., in the Lady Colonels’ four of five victory effort to help start off the 2024 season.

“There were some good and some bad. Kind of what you expect early in the preseason,” Nicholls coach Justin Lewis said. “I think we lost a game that we shouldn’t have. It’s kind of been our focus. We did that last year, and we don’t want to do that this year. We want to win the games we’re supposed to win.

“Losing that one game, that one stung a little bit, but they recuperated and won the last three, so it was good to see that.”

The results of the tournament, coupled with a season-opening loss at LSU, has Nicholls off to a 4-2 start.

Nicholls will get a chance to add to its win total by taking part in the Houston Classic on Thursday through Sunday.

A number of Nicholls got off to good starts in the tournament, none hotter than Reagan Heflin. The outfielder finished with seven hits in getting a hit in all five games to pace her team. She also drove in five runs.

“Reagan is hands down, our most improved player this year. It was nice to see her get off to a hot start. We have to consider now maybe moving her up in the lineup and get her some more at-bats,” said Lewis.

Other players the team will be counting on such as Alexa Poche and Abby Andersen.

“Alexa had seven hits and she wasn’t even really good,” said Lewis. “That was good to see; wait till she gets cooking. There are some exciting things. That’s one of the strengths of this team is that I feel like one through nine, we got a chance to go up there and be really competitive to where last year, seven, eight, nine, kind of really killed us.

“Last year we didn’t have that depth. Nice to not really having to rely on the first four or five people to carry that offense, that we can get it out of the bottom is pretty important.”

The offense was productive. With the exception of the loss to North Dakota, Nicholls scored at least six runs in every other game.

“We run an offensive system and one of the things that we weren’t real good was at hitting in hitters’ counts and doing damage there,” Lewis said. “One of the things we preach to them is once you get into that two-strike count and we got runners in position, we got to score that run and just get a ground ball in the middle of the infield and score a run. We did a really good job of doing that.”

Nicholls was successful getting rallied going with two outs on numerous occasions.

“Those are back-breakers,” said Lewis. “When you’re the team that’s on defense and the (opposing) teams are able to score runs with two outs. On defense, we preach we gotta get off the field there and on offense, we gotta be able to have those back-breaker hits with two outs.”

Nicholls pitcher Audrey McNeill picked up three wins in the tournament as part of her effort that led to her being named the Pitcher of the Week in the Southland Conference.

“She does what Audrey does. She gives us a chance to win every game,” Lewis said. “We’re kind of searching. Molly (Yoo) also was really good. We’re looking for that third arm. Avery did well. Katy (Sanders) did well. We’re going to need all of them going forward.”

Because of potential inclement weather, the format for the Houston Classic has changed. The tournament will run Thursday through Sunday, with Nicholls beginning action a day earlier than originally scheduled.

Along with Nicholls and host Houston, others taking part in the tournament include the University of Massachusetts, Texas-San Antonio, and Northwestern State.

Nicholls is scheduled to open with Houston at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Lady Colonels are slated to play two games on Friday, the first at 11:30 a.m. against UTSA, followed by UMass at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nicholls faces Houston at 6:30 p.m. Sunday’s action pits Nicholls against UMass at 9 a.m.

The original schedule had Nicholls facing Houston in a double-header.

“We get to line up our pitching and they get to line up their best pitching and see what each other has,” explained Lewis. “It’s a little tougher when you have a double-header, and you know you’re probably not going to get each team’s best pitcher the second game.

“Now we could line it up to where both of us could potentially throw our best pitchers against each other. And I think it’s gonna be a really fun matchup.”

All of the teams Nicholls will face in the Houston Classic are coming off season-opening tournaments.

Houston is 4-1 on the season coming off its performance in the Houston Invitational. The only loss for the Cougars was a 10-2 defeat in six innings to Rutgers. Houston scored at least six runs in each of its wins over Colgate, Rutgers, and a pair of victories over Indiana State.

UMass enters 2-3 following the Georgia Southern Tournament with wins over Georgia Southern and Radford. UMass also lost to Georgia Southern and Radford, along with Merrimack. Except for a 7-2 win over Radford, UMass scored no more than two runs in any of their other outings.

UTSA went 0-5 in the Texas State Tournament, losing to Texas State, Northwestern State, Southern Illinois, Kennesaw State, and Creighton.

The goal for Nicholls in the Houston Classic, said Lewis, is to basically just take things as they come.

“One of the things we preach to this team is you have to be flexible and adaptable and just ready to compete at any time,” the Nicholls coach said. “It’s a perfect example. The schedule got switched up, so what? I told the coaches when they called and said, ‘hey, we gotta mix it up.’ I don’t care, we’re going to be ready to play no matter who it is and what time it is, and with weather, it might be another wrinkle in the whole thing.”