Final Stats Carmel Inn Showdown presented by the Sports Medicine Center of Thibodaux Regional Page

THIBODAUX, La. – Senior Tyler Duplantis ripped a two-run single up the middle in the first inning to give the Colonels a 2-1 lead and the pitching staff put together its second consecutive dominating performance by allowing just two hits while striking out 10 as the Nicholls State University baseball team claimed a 2-1 win over Western Illinois in Day 1 of the Carmel Inn Showdown presented by the Sports Medicine Center of Thibodaux Regional Thursday night at Ray E. Didier Field.

Nicholls (2-3) will continue play in the Carmel Inn Showdown with a matchup against in-state rival ULM (3-2) on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The Warhawks opened the round-robin with a 6-2 win over Western Illinois (0-2) earlier in the day.

Brandon Jackson (1-0) picked up the win for the Colonels in his first start of the season, allowing a pair of hits in five innings on the mound. One of the hits came on a double by UWI's Jameson Henning in the opening frame, which lead to the Leathernecks' lone run.

It didn't take long for Nicholls to take the lead, helped by back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the first. With runners in scoring position and two down, Duplantis drove a 2-0 pitch by Tyler Willman (0-1) over second base, plating David Zorn and Philip Lyons for the 2-1 lead.

Jackson cruised through the Leatherneck lineup over the next four innings, finishing the day with four strikeouts. The Colonel bullpen took care of the rest, holding UWI hitless in four innings of work. Stuart Holmes started it off for the relievers pitching 2.2 innings, and six of his eight outs came on strikeouts. After two groundouts to start the sixth, Holmes fanned five straight batters before leaving the game with two outs in the seventh.

Western Illinois put two runners on in the frame, taking advantage of an error and a Holmes walk. Following a double steal, Holmes recorded his sixth punchout before John Satriano came in to face Henning. With the wind howling from right field, Henning laced a shot down the left field line, but Darius Knight, who entered the game in the seventh as a pinch runner, sprinted to the foul line to make a diving game-saving catch.

The Colonels left the bases loaded in the eighth, but Marc Picciola worked a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his first save of the season as Nicholls won its second straight game.

Nicholls had just four hits in the win, led by a 2-for-2 day by Leo Vargas. Along with Duplantis, Christian Correa added a single for the Red and Gray.

For the Leathernecks, Willman pitched six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and struck out two. UWI's bullpen was equally as impressive, holding the Colonels to no hits in two innings.

For complete coverage of the Carmel Inn Showdown presented by the Sports Medicine Center of Thibodaux Regional, please visit here.