CENTERTON -- With its ace sidelined with an injury, Bentonville West turned to sophomore Olivia Nickson, and she did not disappoint.
Nickson flirted with a no-hitter through 5.1 innings before settling for a three-hitter in a 9-3 win against Fort Smith Southside on Thursday in 6A-West Conference action.
"She was a little nervous," said West coach Anthony Cantrell. "She's learning on the go. She's just a sophomore and hasn't really pitched a whole lot. But she's been a real pleasant surprise for us. She's coming in throwing a lot of strikes. If we can play a little defense behind her like we did today, she's pretty good. She's got enough velocity that she'll keep people off-balance.
"I just like her because she freakin' competes. She is a competitor."
Nickson struck out four and walked five, but pitched around several tight jams and the Lady Wolverines (14-4, 5-1 6A-West) played error-free behind her. In the second, fourth and fifth innings, Nickson sailed through the Lady Mavericks' lineup unscathed.
Southside (11-9, 3-3) had a chance to grab the early lead as Madi Conklin walked to start the game and raced from first-to-third on Lauren Whitecotten's sacrifice bunt. Nickson fired a pitch that got past Rassi and Conklin tried to score from third, but Rassi snared the carom off the backstop and nailed Conklin at the plate.
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"That kind of deflated us a little bit early," said Southside coach Mark Reichert. "The ball came off the backstop really hard and we learned a lesson there. We didn't execute a bunt here and there in the middle of the game with runners in scoring position and that comes back to haunt you."
West broke through with a pair of runs in the third inning as catcher Ryen Rassie smoked a two-run single between third and short, driving in Marybeth Dyson and Sarah Cooper for a 2-0 lead.
West's 2-0 lead swelled to 7-0 in the fifth as the Lady Wolverines touched the dish five times. With one our, Caroline Wilhelm tripled to right-center, scoring Rassi from first base. Laynee Tapp followed with an RBI single and Carlee Durham later delivered a two-run single.
The Lady Wolverines added two more runs in the sixth as Cierrs Cravens led-off with a double and Tapp drove in a run with a bloop single. With runners at second and third, Grace Cordell singled sharply to left, sending Tapp home, but West had a runner thrown out at the plate to leave the score at 9-0.
Southside finally broke through with a hit with one out in the top of the seventh. Abby Estep singled sharply up the middle to break-up Nickson's no-hit bid. Felicity Suggs followed with an infield single and a walk loaded the bases for Conklin, the University of Arkansas signee. The senior catcher cleared the bases with a double just inside the third-base bag, cutting West's lead to 9-3 before Nickson was able to retire the Lady Mavs for the win.
"Their pitcher kept us off balance a little bit," said Reichert. "We put the ball in play for the most part, but we needed a little more solid contact, more like the seventh inning, the entire game."
Cooper, Durham and Wilhelm all had multiple hits for West, who will host Bentonville on Tuesday in a big conference game. Currently, West and Bentonville are tied for second on the 6A-West standings one game behind Rogers. Southside will take on crosstown rival Fort Smith Northside in a nonconference match Monday.