Bears beat Nicholls State, back to .500 in conference play for season

Two four-run first innings helped the Bears to sweep the Nicholls State Colonels in a two-game series at Farris Field last weekend.
“Today was very exciting and I am very pleased,” coach David Kuhn said.
The Bears started quick in the series finale on Saturday.
Senior left fielder Nicole Beals singled through the left side in the Bears’ first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, and successfully stole second base.
Freshman shortstop Lissa Avitia reached base on an error by Colonels pitcher Ashton Bennett, and was able to advance to second base.
Freshman third baseman Tiffany Roby drew a walk in the next at-bat to load the bases.
The second pitch thrown to junior catcher Melanie Bryant was a wild pitch, allowing Beals to score, and advancing the other runners. Melanie Bryant later drew a walk to reload the bases.
Junior right fielder Melissa Bryant came up to bat and doubled down the right field line, driving in three runs.
She said the win against Nicholls State was “definitely a team win.”
“I think if we keep swinging far like we did today, we will do good,” Melissa Bryant said.
The Bears ended the day with seven hits.
“I think we hit a lot of balls opposite which is what we’ve been working on,” junior second baseman Stephanie Lasley said. “We made a lot of great plays on defense.”
The series sweep improved the Bears to 31-17 overall and 7-7 in Southland Conference play.
Senior Kelsie Armstrong earned the victory for the Bears in her 22nd complete game of the season. Armstrong pitched her sixth shutout of the year, giving up four hits and one walk, while striking out six batters.
Lasley said she felt confident about the game against Tulsa.
“It will bring momentum into the next series,” she said.
The Bears earner their 30th win of the season, breaking a single-season record for most wins, in a 4-1 victory over the Nicholls State Colonels Friday at Farris Field.
The Bears came out fast in the bottom of the first inning, scoring all four runs in the inning, including back-to-back home runs to start the game.
Senior left fielder Nicole Beals drove the first pitch of the inning over the center field wall, and freshman shortstop Lissa Avitia homered to left field in the next at bat.
Freshman Tiffany Roby kept the offense going with a single. She advanced to third on a double from junior catcher Melanie Bryant.
Roby scored the third run of the inning on a wild pitch from Colonels Katie Moulder.
After a fly out by first baseman Ashley Boswell, Bryant was able to score on a sacrifice-fly by right fielder Katie McGregor.
Armstrong earned the victory for the Bears giving up one run on six hits, one walk and five strikeouts in six innings in the circle.
“We got a great pitching performance out of Kelsie Armstrong, really good defensive,” coach David Kuhn said. “We had some timely hitting. We could have scored a few more runs but we scored early and that helped.”
Kuhn said it was a “good weekend” for the Bears and said the “girls have played well.”
For their performance against the Colonels, Armstrong was named Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week, while Nicole Beals was named Southland Conference Hitter of the Week.
The Bears traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma on Tuesday to play against the Tulsa Hurricanes in a non-conference game.
The Bears face the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks this weekend in Nacogdoches, Texas.
The first game is scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m. and the series finale is Saturday at noon.