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After three months, 56 games, 37 wins and one of the best seasons in school history, it all came down to one game for the Nicholls softball team in its quest to make the NCAA Tournament.
The opponent was a predictable one: McNeese State – the team that’s owned Southland softball for the past few seasons.
The setting was, too – the Southland Conference Tournament Championship Game.
But instead of a fairy tale ending, the Colonels’ magical run ended one win short of its desired destination.
Much like they’ve done for the past few seasons, the Cowgirls rolled, ending Nicholls’ season on the diamond up in Conway, Arkansas.
Nicholls had a great run at the Southland Conference Tournament, pushing all the way to the finale for a winner-take-all matchup with McNeese – a game which was played at around midnight on Friday night and into Saturday morning because of rain.
The late start didn’t hamper the Cowgirls. After three scoreless innings, they blew the game open, combining for eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings to secure an 8-0 mercy-rule win.
The loss ends the Colonels season with a 37-20 record – one victory short of the team’s goal of the NCAA Tournament.
But they fought like hell to get there, earning the respect of just about everyone in the conference in the process.
Nicholls entered the tournament as the league’s No. 2 overall seed, which gave them a first-round bye.
After No. 3 Lamar beat No. 6 Northwestern State, the Colonels played a thriller with the Cardinals last Wednesday, putting themselves in position for a deep tournament run in a 2-1 victory.
Pitcher Megan Landry was the star of the show in the opener, pitching a complete game, allowing just one run and four hits in 88 pitches.
Her brilliance thwarted a gem tossed by Lamar ace Ciara Luna, who didn’t allow an earned run in the game, giving up just four hits.
Three of those hits came in a rough bottom of the fifth inning which saw the Cardinals commit two errors, which helped the Colonels plate their only two runs – RBI hits from Gretchen Morgan and Sydney Bourg.
The Cardinals threatened in the seventh, scoring a run, then getting the tying run to first base with just one out.
But Landry got out of the pickle and clinched the win – officially avenging last year’s loss the Colonels suffered against Lamar to open the SLC Tournament.
“She’s so consistent,” Colonels coach Angel Santiago said earlier this season of Landry. “She has great poise on the mound, and she works her way through situations as the game rolls by.”
The victory set up a Thursday date between Nicholls and McNeese for a spot in the Championship Game. The winner would get sent to the loser’s bracket on Friday.
The Cowgirls feasted on Nicholls pitching in that one, securing an 11-2 mercy-rule win – their second-straight mercy-rule win to open the tournament.
The loss set up Nicholls in the loser’s bracket where they faced Central Arkansas with the winner earning the right to battle McNeese in the Championship Game.
In that game, Landry was again the star, tossing another complete game, while allowing just four hits, which allowed Nicholls to rally from an early deficit to secure a 4-2 win, which ended the host team’s season.
That game was played at 8:15 p.m. on Friday night, and the contest lasted until exactly 10:24 p.m.
The championship game was played exactly 35 minutes later with the opening pitch just before 11 p.m.
The late start gave the smokin’ hot Cowgirls’ offense a slight hangover at first. But once they found their rhythm, they crushed the softball and punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
McNeese recorded just one hit in the first three innings of the Championship Game, and were arguably getting outplayed by Nicholls, which had runners in scoring position in two of the first three innings.
But the Colonels didn’t bring anyone around to score in those innings, which sent the game to the fourth inning in a scoreless tie.
But it didn’t stay scoreless for long.
The Cowgirls exploded in the fourth, going on top 5-0 on a rally capped by two-run home runs from Tori Yanitor and Carleigh Chaumont.
After a quick top of the fifth inning, Yanitor and Chaumont went back to work to end the game.
Yanitor started the damage with a 2-RBI single, which made it 7-0. Chaumont ended the game with a double to left-center, which scored two, but the Cowgirls only had to count one because of the eight-run mercy rule.
After the Chaumont hit, coaches from both teams met with umpires for a lengthy meeting to discuss the end of the game.
Southland Tournament rules stipulate that in the championship game, there is no mercy rule. But after umpires talked with conference officials, the game was called – just before 1 a.m. on Saturday morning.
McNeese scored mercy rule wins in all three of their tournament wins.
“Our kids have worked hard all year and to see this kind of tournament performance is the fruit of all their hard labor they put in for the entire season,” Cowgirls coach James Landreneau said.
For the Colonels, three players – Gretchen Morgan, Veronica Villafranco and Megan Landry – were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The loss ends the collegiate careers of six seniors, who Santiago said during senior night will be missed.
But the Colonels do return a core group of players, including several starters, which makes it easy for one to envision a world where the Colonels make it back here again next spring.
And this time, they’d love to be the ones celebrating at the end. •
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