Softball team hosts Ole Miss before taking on McNeese in busy home week

Whatever was off kilter with Audrey McNeill, she corrected it quickly and at the most opportune time for the Lady Colonels softball team.

The Nicholls softball pitcher was off by her standard, but she reverted to form during the Lady Colonels’ three-game sweep at Northwestern State to open Southland Conference play.

Starting two of the three games, in 14 combined innings, she went 2-0, allowed no runs on five hits and three walks, with 16 strikeouts.

“She was amazing over the over the weekend, obviously, two complete-game shutouts, and I anticipate she’ll probably end up with Pitcher of the Week in the conference again,” said Nicholls coach Justin Lewis, referring to an honor McNeill already has received this season.

McNeill’s performance helped Nicholls (15-10) get off to a 3-0 start in SLC play.

“The three wins, I can’t say I expected all three wins, especially with their pitching, and our recent history since I’ve been here against Northwestern hasn’t been very good. It was nice to get all three, especially against them, since they’ve been kicking our heads in for the last couple of years,” said Lewis.

The next conference series for Nicholls will be at home when it hosts McNeese State for a three-game set beginning on Friday.

Before then is a midweek double-header at home against Ole Miss, which is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday on Swanner Field at Geo Surfaces Park.

Ole Miss (16-7) is coming off a series in which it dropped two of three games at home to nationally ranked Mississippi State.

“They’re an SEC team. The SEC is the SEC,” Lewis said. “They’re deep and loaded and they’re pretty athletic. They’re going to be a problem for us. We’re going to have to pitch it really well and play clean defense like we did this weekend. We only made one error in the three games. We’re going to have to do that to give ourselves a chance. We got to pitch it and be able to play clean defense, and like everything else, get the timely hitting, as well.

“It’s gonna be a really good test for us, especially in midweek. They’re coming off of a tough series. I’m sure they didn’t want their series to go that way, especially against their in-state rival. I’m sure they’re going to be coming in here with the intentions of doing some damage. I think if we pitch it and play clean, we’ll be OK.”

A win over Ole Miss might be an eye-opener and a morale boost, but the important series at hand for Nicholls against McNeese.

Nicholls has its three games under its belt, but it will be the first Southland Conference games of the year for the Cowgirls.

McNeese is coming off of taking two of three games at home against the University of Louisiana at Monroe. The Cowgirls are scheduled to play at UL-Lafayette on Wednesday before taking on Nicholls.

Earlier this season, Nicholls lost two of three in a series at UL-Monroe and fell in a single game 8-2 to UL-Lafayette at home.

McNeese is 14-11 on the season but pitching ace Ashley Vallejo has tossed only five innings so far this year.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but they’re still really good. (Shaelyn) Sanders has stepped up and carrying the load and (Ryann) Schexnayder’s done a good job,” Lewis said. “She’s a little lefty that’s pretty crafty.

“James (Landreneau) just does an excellent job over there. He’s always one of the most prepared coaches you’ll face and just a really well-coached team. From what they’ve been doing in the recent history is they expect to be good, and that’s one of the lessons we’ve been trying to teach our young team for the last couple of years is that mindset piece, and McNeese is the best at it.”

Sanders is 6-5 on the season with a 2.21 earned run average with 49 strikeouts in 69 2/3 innings. She has nine starts but also comes in out of the bullpen for the Cowgirls.

“She’s kind of their best right now,” Lewis said. “They are using her to start and then when other people start, they’re using her to come in and close games and shut the door. It’s nice having an arm like that that you can do that with that doesn’t mind starting or coming in in relief. I imagine we’ll see her a plethora of times.”

Schexnayder is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 33 2/3 innings. Lindsay Davis, who has logged 39 1/3 innings, is 2-5 on the season with 21 strikeouts and a 2.85 ERA.

Offensively, sophomore Corine Poncho powers the team with nine home runs in 62 at-bats.

“She’s a beast. She’s a kid that we had had here on a visit during recruiting. She hit a whole bunch of home runs in high school. I think she led the nation. She’s got some serious juice. She hit one against us last year to win a game,” Lewis said of Poncho, who hit 32 home runs her senior year at Notre Dame of Crowley.

Poncho, with a .306 average, is one of five Cowgirls hitting above .500.

“They’re really good at situational hitting over there,” Lewis said. “That’s what you really want as a coach. Obviously, having someone like Poncho that can tie a game, win a game, with one swing of the bat is pretty nice to have as well.”

McNeese is also good defensively. Last year the Cowgirls led the nation in double-plays turned on the opposition.

“Traditionally, they done what you want to build your program after,” said Lewis. “They’ve always had dominant pitching and amazing defense, and timely hitting. If you can check those three boxes, you’re going to give yourself a chance to win against anybody, and they’ve proven that.

“We’ve got to pitch it at a high level, and play really, really good defense, and hopefully, we can come out on the other side of the timely hitting ourselves.”

That generally hasn’t been the case for Nicholls against the Cowgirls. The Lady Colonels lost all three games to McNeese a year ago.

“Hopefully, we can get a little bit closer,” Lewis said. “They’re the ones that have been running this program for this conference for the last handful of years. Until somebody knocks them off, they’re the stick. It would be nice to get them real early in the conference season and kind of see where we stand.”