Falling behind in the count to LSU hitters proves costly for Nicholls in 10-2 home loss

Falling behind in the count proved to be costly for the Nicholls softball team Tuesday night against nationally-ranked LSU at Swanner Field in Thibodaux.

“Pitching has kind of been one of our strengths all year and even Averi (Paden) and Molly (Yoo) both were working from behind,” Nicholls coach Justin Lewis said. “You can’t do that with any team, much less a really good team. So I wasn’t super excited about the pitching today just because they were working from behind. When you do that, you give up really hard-hit balls.”

LSU (26-4) used the hard-hit balls, which included a run-scoring double, a run-scoring triple, a two-run home run, and a three-run homer to power past Nicholls 10-2.

“When you put really good hitters in leverage counts, we call it, like they’re looking to do damage, and that’s what happened,” said Lewis.

“I thought their pitching staff did a nice job against us, but we were able to capitalize on some things,” LSU coach Beth Torina said. “I think our lineup was able to do some things throughout. Some of our harder-hit balls, they make great plays on and some of the other things fell in. That’s the way the game goes. It was good to see a big swing from one of our younger players, McKaela Walker. That was good to see.”

Meanwhile, LSU pitcher Raelin Chaffin was good from the start. She walked Claire Sisco to open the game, but after Sisco was wiped out on a double-play to end the inning, Chaffin went on to face the minimum number of batters until the fifth inning when she hit one batter and walked another. That allowed Nicholls to reach as far as second base for the first time in the game.

The only two runs Chaffin allowed came in the sixth inning.

“She did a great job,” Torina said of Chaffin. “A couple of things just got away from her in that inning, but she was able to answer right back in the seventh and I thought she had a really nice game.”

The game was the second win in a row for LSU following four-straight losses. LSU won its first 24 games of the season before dropping four straight. A 4-3 win over Missouri in the final game of a three-game series allowed LSU to avoid a sweep as it fell from No. 2 to No. 6 in the nation.

“Nicholls is a really quality team, so it’s a good win for us. Anytime we can get a win, we’re in a good spot,” said Torina.

The game was played in front of an overflow record crowd listed at 703.

“I’m just grateful that they were willing to come down here,” Lewis said. “Thibodaux turned out. Just imagine if Thibodaux would support us like this all the time, the things we could do as a program would be really amazing. The thing that sucks is that they proved that they can come out. Now we just need them to come out to our next home game and the one after that and go out to baseball and basketball and football. This place can be really special, but we need them.”

Yoo, the Nicholls starter, faced trouble in the top of the first inning but managed to escape without any damage.

A fielding error by Nicholls, a hit batter, and a fielder’s choice loaded the bases with one out, but she got out of the inning by striking out Kelley Lynch and getting Karli Petty to fly out to left field.

Yoo was not so fortunate in the second inning.

After McKenzie Redoutey was hit by a pitch to open the inning, Yoo yielded a run-scoring double by Maddox McKee to produce the first run of the game. With two outs, Ciarra Briggs blasted a home run to center field for a 3-0 LSU lead.

LSU extended the lead to 4-0 in the third inning on a run-scoring single by McKee off of Averi Paden, who had entered the game in relief of Yoo after Briggs’ home run.

Paden held the LSU hitters at bay until the sixth inning.

After a Briggs walk, a single by Raeleen Gutierrez with one out set up a three-run home run to left field by Walker and a 7-0 LSU lead.

Nicholls (17-15) got its only two runs of the game on a two-out single up the middle by Alexa Poche.

LSU countered with another three-run inning, this time on sacrifice fly by Taylor Pleasants, a run-scoring triple by Guiterrez, and an infield hit by Petty for the 10-2 final.

Yoo (5-4) suffered the loss for Nicholls, allowing three runs on two hits, with one strikeout in 1 2/3 innings. Paden allowed seven runs on 11 hits and six walks, while striking out two in 5 1/3 innings.

Chaffin (8-2) ended up allowing two runs on two hits and two walks, while striking out five in going the distance.

The game was the first for Nicholls in six days with a three-game Southland Conference series at Lamar beginning Thursday.

“Coming off the bye week (in the SLC schedule) and getting to be able to come out and play is a benefit. We’ll see how we do with it this weekend,” Lewis said.