March 21, 2010
Box Score
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Senior right hander Tyler Minto retired the first 15 batters he faced, and allowed just two unearned runs while striking out eight in a 7.0 IP gem as the Nicholls State University baseball team (12-7, 3-3 Southland Conference) avoided a sweep at the hands of the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Islanders (10-9, 3-3 Southland) with a 10-2 win in the finale of a three game series at Chapman Field on Sunday.
The Colonels rebounded from a nailbiting 7-5 loss thanks to a sterling outing from Minto. The senior right hander retired the first 15 Islander batters he faced. Unfortunately, Minto's perfect game bid was broken up as Jeramie Marek led off the sixth inning with a walk.
Matt Holland followed by ending Minto's no-hit bid by following Marek with a double. Marek was thrown out at the plate trying to score, but Holland came home after Omar Garcia singled to right and Kasey Culverson misplayed the ball for an unearned run to breakout the shutout.
The Islanders added another run in the seventh as Chris Vergne singled, stole second, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on an error by Chase Jaramillo.
Fortunately, for the Colonels, Nicholls had already built a sizable advantage. The Colonels plated three in the first by sending seven men to the plate. Four Colonel hits drove staked Nicholls to a 3-0 lead, with Keith Kulbeth's two-run single being the biggest blow.
An RBI single by Jaramillo in the third made it 4-0. After the Islanders got on the board in the sixth and seventh, Jaramillo padded the Nicholls lead once again with a safety squeeze RBI bunt to make it 5-2.
The Nicholls lineup saved the best for last with a five-run ninth inning to put the game on ice. The Colonels batted around in the final frame, sending nine to the plate. Nicholls notched just two hits, but a pair of Islander errors, a hit batsmen and two walks played a key role in the five-run frame to make it 10-2.
Brad Delatte came on in relief of Minto and slammed the door on the Islanders by delivering 2.0 IP of scoreless one-hit relief, earning his second save of the season.
The Colonels will return to action on Tuesday when they head to Baton Rouge to take on Southern. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Lee Hines Field.
