March 14, 2010

Box Score

THIBODAUX - The Nicholls State University baseball team (11-4, 2-1 Southland Conference) tried to rally from a 4-0 first inning deficit, but the Lamar Cardinals (12-4, 1-2 Southland) added one more in the fourth and two more in the sixth to hold off the Colonels and snap Nicholls longest winning streak since 1986 at 11 games by a final of 7-3 at Ray E. Didier Field in Thiobodaux.

Lamar's Eric Harrington, the 2009 Southland Conference Freshman of the Year and 2010 Soutlhand Conference Preseason First Team honoree, earned the win with a complete game, eight strikeout performance. The sophomore starter struck out eight batters and walked just one while limiting Nicholls to three runs on nine hits.

However, Harrington was staked to a 4-0 lead before he even took the hill as Colonel freshman lefty Brent Bonvillian struggled in his fourth start of the year. After Bonvillian struck out the first batter of the game, the Thibodaux native ran into trouble, allowing two walks and hitting a pair of batters while allowing two hits to the Cardinals that plated four runs.

After the Cards jumped out to a 4-0 lead after just 0.1 IP, Colonel skipper brought on senior right hander Tyler Minto. Making just his second appearance of the season while recovering from an offseason shoulder injury, Minto began showing the form that made him a staff ace in 2009.

Minto allowed just one walk and struck out three batters and allowing just three hits in his 4.2 IP of relief.

With Minto taking charge on the mound, the Colonel lineup tried to mount a comeback. Bear Comer drew a leadoff walk to start off the first and advanced to third on a basehit by Chase Jaramillo. Keith Kulbeth drove in the first run of the game by beating out a double play ball to plate Comer and make it 4-1.

Unfortunately, for Nicholls, the Colonels could not muster anything else off of Harrington until the eighth when back-to-back doubles by Kasey Culverson and Bear Comer and a successful double steal with runners at the corners led to two more Nicholls runs. However, Harrington pitched out of the jam for the complete game win.

The Colonels will return to action on Wednesday when they head to Baton Rouge to take on No. 1 LSU in Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge. A streaming audio broadcast will be made available at www.ThibodauxOnline.com.

NOTES

* - Sunday's loss ends a stretch of 12 home games through the first 15 for the Colonels

* - The loss snaps the Colonels' winning streak at 11 games, just one shy of a 12-game winning streak in 1986 that was the longest in Nicholls' history as an NCAA Division I school.

* - Redshirt sophomore first baseman Blake Bergeron extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a first-inning base hit.