NSU softball battling toughest enemies

If the Southland Conference softball tournament began today, the Nicholls Colonels, last year’s runner-up, would be staying home.

A three-game sweep this past weekend at the hands of the Sam Houston State Bearkats, coupled with a sweep the previous weekend, has the Colonels on the outside looking in.

Currently, the Colonels sit in seventh place. Only the top six teams get in to the Southland Conference softball tournament.

What appeared to be a season of destiny for the Colonels in the first half of the season, climbing all the way to first place in the standings, has suddenly become one of uncertainty and struggling to find answers.

Part of the reason is because on the field the Colonels are fighting their toughest enemies – themselves.

Head coach Jenny Parsons said all those little things that were going her team’s way early in the season, aren’t going their way now.

“I think it’s a minute thing,” she admitted. “It’s an intangible that you can’t put your finger on and say this is how you get it done. We felt the pressure of being number two in the conference and I think now we’re feeling the pressure of trying to fight to get our way into the tournament.”

One of the biggest differences between the two halves of the season is the fact that the Colonels have struggled to put runners on base, and runs on the board.

In the games the Colonels won, they were winning close games. Now, 10 of the last 12 losses have been by one run.

“We’re in every game, it’s just that the things that fell for us in the beginning of the year aren’t falling for us now,” she said. “Every single team in this conference is a great team. If you look at teams who we swept early in the year, they are beating other teams now. This conference is tight from top to bottom, all ten teams. We’ve just had two polar opposite halves of the season.”

The struggles are equally as frustrating for Parsons because it’s not the way she envisioned her three seniors ending their careers.

Danielle Clayton, Haley Burkett and Kodi Butler were three of a four-member recruiting class to stick with the program for four years.

All three have contributed substantially to the Colonels both on defense and at the plate.

Without them, Parsons admitted the team would probably fall apart, but they’ve vowed not to let that happen.

“Those three kids came in with a group of four and I still have three,” Parsons said. “They have fought tooth and nail for me every single game. Haley stuck around despite not having the opportunity to play early on. Kodi and Danielle have been starters for pretty much four years. I can’t ask for more from those girls.”

With only one conference series left, this weekend against McNeese State in Lake Charles, all is not lost for the Colonels. With a strong finish and slight help from other teams in the conference, the Colonels could sneak into the tournament.

They need the Bearkats to lose at least one of their games in their upcoming weekend series.

“I’m just lost for words, I feel like I keep saying the same things over and over again,” the coach said of the team’s conference struggles. “We need to finish strong and give ourselves a chance.”

If worse comes to worst and the Colonels aren’t playing in mid-May, then Parsons said this season will serve as a lesson learned to the younger players on the team.

“It’s going to make them stronger going through this season,” she explained. “By the time they are seniors, they are going to have this to fall back on. They’ll be able to handle the pressure better.”

Junior Lyndsay Mesh makes contact with the ball during the weekend series against the Sam Houston State Bearkats. After a hot start, the Colonels have struggled, losing six straight conference games and are now fighting for the final spot in the Southland Conference Tournament. * Photo by KYLE CARRIER