Feb. 24, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - UL-Monroe put together two five-run innings and hit four homeruns to defeat Nicholls 16-7 Sunday afternoon and sweep the opening-weekend series at Ray E. Didier Field.

Josh Lett (1-0) took the win for Louisiana-Monroe on five innings of work. He gave up six Colonel hits and allowed just one run. Junior Ryan Harding falls to 0-1 on the season after giving up five runs through 2.2 inning. Harding and reliever Joe Hagerty each struck out three batters.

The Warhawks scored five runs in the third inning on four-straight hits and a Nicholls throwing error. Dexter Fontenot drove in a run on an RBI double to right center, and A.J. Siggers, the next batter, brought Fontenot in on a triple to right.

"The two things that we talked about doing that we have to improve on are our defense and our pitching," noted Colonel head coach Chip Durham. "We've got the pitching. We threw strikes, but we were up in the zone and good hitting teams will hit those pitches, no matter the velocity. We made eight errors this weekend - that's almost three per game. That's going to determine our fate. We can't make those errors and win games. We're not playing defense like we need to to win ball games."

The Colonels mounted a slight comeback in the bottom half of the third, cutting the Warhawk lead to four when catcher Brett Cook, who led off the inning with a single, scored after advancing to second on a failed pick-off move by the ULM pitcher.

But the big inning for ULM came in the fourth with back-to-back-to-back homeruns from Kyle Suire, Josh Prevost and Siggers. Along with his three-run jack, Suire drove in three other runs, to finish the day with six RBI. Prevost and Sigger's were both solo shots.

"We've got to take our hats off to [ULM]," added Durham. "They can swing the bat."

Nicholls attempted a late rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring four runs six hits and taking a chunk out of the Warhawk lead.

Cook and third-baseman Brett Hoeflich each went 4-for-4 at the plate and scored twice for the Colonels. Shortstop Keith Kulbeth picked up two hits and two RBI, as did Shane Barksdale, who came in as a pinchhitter in the sixth.

"I'm proud of our hitters," Durham said. "They did a great job this weekend. Sixteen hits and seven runs should be enough to win."

The Colonels take to the road Tuesday night to face Louisiana College in a 6 p.m. contest. They will return to Didier Field Wednesday night, hosting New Orleans at 6:30 p.m.

######