May 1, 2010

Box Score

HAMMOND, La. - The Nicholls State University baseball team (22-20, 11-12 Southland Conference) launched three home runs against Southeastern Louisiana University Lions (32-13, 14-9 Southland), but one big inning doomed the Colonels as the Lions scored seven runs in the third and Lion starter Chris Franklin threw his second consecutive complete game as the Lions evened the series with a 9-4 win on Saturday.

One day after the Colonels earned a 5-3 victory behind a complete game 16-strikeout performance by Clint Dempster, the Lions got their own CG performance as Franklin went the distance, allowing just five hits over his 9.0 innings of work.

The Colonels made the most of their five hits, however, as Nicholls launched three homers against the Southeastern right hander. It was the first three-homer game of the season by the Colonel lineup.

Blake Bergeron (third inning), Keith Kulbeth (fourth inning) and Brady Bourque (ninth inning) each launched solo shots, and the Colonels added another run in the fourth on an RBI single by Chase Jaramillo.

However, after Bergeron's solo shot staked Nicholls to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, one bad inning doomed the Colonels on Saturday. The Lions strung together four hits and took advantage of two walks and a hit batsmen to score seven runs in the bottom of the third. Southeastern sent ten men to the plate in the third, and Josh Cryer's grand slam home run capped the scoring as the Colonels found themselves down 7-1 after three.

Nicholls tried to rally in their next turn at bat. Kulbeth's homer led off the inning, and, after Bourque beat out a double play ball and took second on a wild pitch, Jaramillo singled up the middle to make it 7-3.

Unfortunately, for the Colonels, Southeastern added one more in the bottom of the fourth as an unearned run crossed the plate on a Colonel error. An RBI single by Cody Gougler made it 9-3 in the seventh.

After their two-run fourth, the Colonels couldn't manage much against Franklin, who faced just one batter over the minimum over the next four innings. Bourque's solo shot in the ninth provided the final 9-4 margin.

The Colonels will look to clinch the series victory when the Lions return to Thibodaux for the rubber match of the three-game series on Sunday. First pitch, originally scheduled for 1 p.m. has been moved up to noon to accommodate potential inclement weather in the afternoon forecast.

NOTES:

With 11 regular season games (10 Southland Conference games) remaining the Colonels need the following:

3 more overall wins for their first 25-win season since going 28-26 in 2003.

4 more conference wins for their first 15-win Southland Conference season since going 15-12 against Southland competition in 2000.

8 more overall wins for their first 30-win season since going 31-19 in 1993.

9 more conference wins for their first ever 20-win conference season.

With last weekend's two-out-of-three series victory at Sam Houston State combined with a two-of-three series win at Central Arkansas the week before, the Colonels have won consecutive conference series for the first time since 2001.

The last time Nicholls won consecutive Southland Conference series was 2001 when the Colonels won three straight series: at Lamar (March 24: W, 9-4; March 24: L, 9-7; March 25: W, 7-4), against Northwestern State (March 30, W, 7-3; March 31: L, 18-5; April 1: W, 8-6) and at Louisiana-Monroe (April 5: W, 11-4, April 6: W, 3-2; April 7: L, 12-7).

One more win against the Lions would give Nicholls three straight Southland series wins since that time.