Nicholls softball faces midweek game then series at HCU coming off sweep of Commerce

The Nicholls softball team is coming off a week in which they did what they had to do as a team in Southland Conference contention.

Taking on a Texas A&M-Commerce team that went into a three-game series winless in conference play, Nicholls avoided any hiccups in coming away with a sweep.

The outcome left Nicholls 9-3 in the Southland. Only McNeese at 11-1 and Southeastern Louisiana at 10-2 are ahead of the Lady Colonels in the conference.

Nicholls (22-17 overall) is slated to host Southern University at 5 p.m. Wednesday in non-conference before hitting the road for a three-game set at Houston Christian University.

“If you’re planning on winning the conference, which is what they say their goal is, you have to go get some sweeps and you can’t have letdowns,” Nicholls coach Justin Lewis said of his team’s intentions. “It’s important for them to check one off the box and get those three and keep us in contention for it. Now we have to go get another one on Wednesday and three more on the weekend.”

The three more on the weekend are again an HCU team that is 2-10 in the Southland.

The teams are scheduled to meet in a double-header beginning at 3 p.m. Friday. The finale is set for noon Saturday.

“Again, games we should win,” Lewis said. “But we’ve got work to do on Monday and Tuesday and then we can go and perform a little bit. We will have to turn around and drive to Houston on Thursday, but there’s still work to do.

“We can’t be satisfied with where we’re at. We’re not good enough, yet. We’ve got to put in the work to be able to get there and go on this run, and hopefully, it all comes together for us.”

Southern is 13-17 on the season. The Lady Jaguars are coming off Southwestern Athletic Conference series win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, taking two of three games.

The Lady Jaguars host Xavier University of Louisiana on Tuesday before taking on Nicholls.

Asia George leads Southern in hitting with a .367 average. Alana Mark paces the team in home runs with five and in runs batted in with 24, while being the only other Lady Jag hitting above .300 at .359.

George is 11 of 14 in the stolen base department, while Aylani Ottley has 11 steals in 13 attempts.

Jordynn Jennings leads Southern with a 3.32 earned run average. Jennings has allowed 15 earned runs on 38 hits and 10 walks, while striking out 19 in 31 2/3 innings.

Miranda Roldan leads the team in wins with her 5-3 record. Sporting a 4.00 ERA, she has allowed 32 earned runs on 57 hits and 20 walks, while striking out 54 batters in 56 innings.

Houston Christian (15-19 overall) lost all three games in its recent series at Incarnate Word and has lost five games in a row. The Huskies managed a total of only two runs in the three games.

Jasie Roberts leads HCU in hitting with a .361 average. She has three home runs on the season and 16 RBI.

Haylie Savage, who is hitting .273, leads the team in home runs with five and a team-high 17 runs batted in.

A.B. Garcia, the only other HCU player hitting above. 300 at 306 leads the team in stolen bases with 11 steals in 12 attempts.

Ronni Grofman leads the Huskies in ERA at 2.93 and in wins with her 5-7 mark. Grofman has allowed 28 earned runs on 83 hits and 23 walks, while striking out 50 in 67 innings.

Lyndie Swanson also has logged 67 innings. She is 4-6 on the season and sports a 3.55 ERA. Swanson has allowed 34 earned runs on 95 hits and 16 walks, while striking out 53.

Addy Prasifka is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in 30 1/3 innings, while Katy Janes is 4-2 with a 7.55 ERA in 38 innings.