March 18, 2008

Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. - The Nicholls baseball team split a doubleheader at South Alabama Tuesday, taking game one 5-3, but falling 10-3 in the second game. The Colonels improve to 4-13 on the season, while South Alabama sits at 11-8.

"Today was a long day here in Mobile, but we played well," said Colonel skipper Chip Durham.

Game One:

In game one, Shane Barksdale drove a two-run home run to deep center field to put the Colonels up 3-0 in the third as Nicholls evened the series with a 5-3 win.

Ryan Harding (1-3) picked up his first win of the season for Nicholls, giving up two runs (one earned) through three innings of work. Harding struck out two of the 15 batters he faced. Dale Dickerson got his fourth save of the season, getting the Colonels out of a seventh inning jam.

Luke Grissett took the loss for South Alabama, falling to 0-1 on the season after giving up four earned runs through seven innings.

South Alabama got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning on a Colonel error and a single by Chris Davis.

But Nicholls added an insurance run in the fourth on an RBI single by Corey Arceneaux that plated Jordy Toups and another in the seventh on a basehit by Anthony Wray.

South Alabama cut the lead to two in the seventh on a sacrifice fly after loading the bases twice, but the Colonels escaped with a 5-3 victory.

"That first game was just a seven inning game and I was proud of the way our guys played," noted Durham. "We battled and swung the bats well. Harding had the kind of outing that we've been looking for from him all year. That is a big win for us against a quality program here at South Alabama."

The Colonels were led by Walter Jones, who finished the day 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Barksdale went 1-for-4 with three RBI, having hit safely in seven-straight games.

Brandt Boudreaux extended his hitting streak to 11 games, going 1-for-3 at the plate.

Game Two:

The Colonels got on the board early on a two-out solo shot by Brandt Boudreaux to left field. WIth the homer, Boudreaux has now hit safely in his last 12 games.

James Dunning (1-0) took the win for South Alabama, K-ing three batters in two innings of relief. Ryan Cheramie, the second of seven pitchers for Nicholls, ended with the loss, giving up three runs (two earned) in the fourth.

Nicholls and South Alabama traded runs back and forth until the Jaguars jumped ahead 5-3 in the fourth on a three-hit, three-run inning.

USA added three insurance runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to take a 10-3 lead they would not relinquish.

Jake Overstreet went 4-for-5 for South Alabama.

Brett Cook finished at a team-leading 2-for-3, scoring a run on a Jaguar error.

"In the second game, we came out and scored a few runs early but then we made a few mistakes that a good-hitting club like South Alabama will take advantage of. We have to use the momentum from this split heading to McNeese [State] this weekend."

The Colonels travel to Lake Charles, La., Thursday, Friday and Saturday for a Southland Conference series with McNeese State. Thursday night's is slated for 6:30 p.m.

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