THIBODAUX, La. – The Lamar University Cardinals saw their hopes of a first-round bye in next week's Southland Conference Softball Tournament come to an end with a disappointing 5-0 loss to host Nicholls on Friday evening.
 
LU (31-19 overall, 17-8 Southland) still has a strong chance of finishing thrid entering the final day of the regular season. The Cardinals need to win one of their two games against Nicholls on Saturday, or see Central Arkansas lose at least one game in its doubleheader at league-leading McNeese.
 
On Friday, LU fell behind early and couldn't catch up against the Colonels (37-14, 20-4), who remain a half-game behind McNeese. Nicholls took advantage of three first-inning errors by the Cardinals to score two unearned runs off of LU starter Ciara Luna (15-6).
 
"You can't start like that," a frustrated LU coach Holly Bruder said. "You can't expect to beat the second-place team if you're going to make multiple errors."
 
Luna settled down after that as she matched zeroes with Nicholls starter Hannah Haydel over the next three innings to keep the score at 2-0 heading to the fifth.
 
The Cardinals had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the fifth inning, loading the bases with nobody out, but Kelly Meeuwsen and Brittany Rodriguez each grounded into fielder's choices that saw the lead runner forced out at home. Brynn Baca then grounded out to end the threat.
 
The Colonels quickly seized the momentum back, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth to increase their lead to 4-0 and to chase Luna from the game. Nicholls added a run off of LU reliever Laura Napoli to make it 5-0 heading into the seventh inning.
 
The Cardinals looked as if they might have some seventh-inning magic left over from last Friday's come-from-behind win over McNeese as LU loaded the bases again, but once again left the sacks full. For the game, the Cardinals stranded nine runners.
 
"We had the bases loaded twice and we couldn't score. That's frustrating," Bruder said. "You may be able to get away with that in February and May, but you can't do that against good teams this late in the season. You have to make the most of your opportunities."
 
One of the highlights for LU was Brittany Rodriguez's seventh-inning single that gave her 62 hits on the season, surpassing the previous LU mark of 61 set by Candyce Carter in 2013. Each of the three LU outfielders (Rodriguez in right field, Jenna Holland in center and Sarah Ragsdale in left) had an outfield assist. Ragsdale had two of LU's four hits.
 
Danielle Phillips had three hits for Nicholls, while Veronica Villafranco went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
 
The teams wrap up the regular season with a doubleheader at noon Saturday. Both teams will then head to the Southland Conference Tournament that gets under way in Lake Charles, La., on Wednesday.