Minto's Complete Game Leads Nicholls to Senior Day and Series Victory

May 16, 2010

THIBODAUX - Senior right hander Tyler Minto put on a pitching clinic against the top team in the conference on Sunday as the Nicholls State University baseball team (24-26, 13-17 Southland Conference) rode Minto's complete game efforts to their first series victory over Texas State (31-19, 21-9 Southland) since 2002 with a 6-2 win in the rubber match of a three-game conference series at Ray E. Didier Field.

Minto's got nod for the start on Senior Day and made the most of his final career outing at Ray E. Didier Field. The Mobile, Ala. native went the distance for the second time this season and the fourth time in his two-year career at Nicholls. Minto limited the first place Bobcats to just two runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out five.

Minto cruised through the first half of the game, retiring 15 of the first 18 batters he faced, including eight consecutive from the third through the fifth innings.

Meanwhile, the Nicholls lineup got to work against Texas State starter Mitchell Pitts. After a scoreless first, Nicholls sent nine men to the plate in the second. The Colonels strung together four singles and took advantage of a walk and a Bobcat error to bring three men home and stake Nicholls to a 3-0 lead after two. Junior center fielder Bear Comer had the biggest blow in the inning, driving home two with a bases loaded single, the first of four singles on Comer's 4-for-5 day.

Nicholls struck again in the bottom of the fifth as senior catcher Kevin Schlegel drove home Blake Bergeron with a two-out RBI single to make it 4-0.

Minto ran into some trouble in the sixth as Bobcat left fielder Tyler Sibley led off with a double to left. After taking third on a sacrifice bunt, Sibley came home on a ground out to make it 4-1.

However, Nicholls answered in the bottom of the seventh. Brady Bourque, Bergeron and Chase Jaramillo led off the inning with consecutive singles. Schlegel followed with a slow roller up the middle. Bobcat shortstop Jason Martinson fielded the ball cleanly and stepped on second, however, his throw to first was wide of the bag allowing Bourque to score and Bergeron to come all the way around from second to extend the Colonel lead to 6-1.

After a scoreless eighth, Minto came back out to finish the ninth. Texas State managed to manufacture a run thanks to consecutive one-out singles and a fielder's choice ground out to bring home Jeff McVaney. However, Minto coaxed Sibley to ground into a game-ending fielder's choice for the 6-2 win.

The Colonels will return to action next week when they conclude the regular season at McNeese State with a three-game series.

NOTES:

Sunday's win clinched a series victory for the Colonels. It was Nicholls' first series win over Texas State since 2002.

Senior left fielder Keith Kulbeth extended his hitting streak to nine games by going 1-for-5. Kulbeth collected his 199th career hit on Sunday and will look to collect his 200th career hit next week at McNeese State.

With three Southland Conference games remaining, Nicholls needs the following:

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

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

With ninth-place Texas-San Antonio winning on Sunday, the Colonels own a 2.0 game lead for the eighth and final Southland Conference Tournament berth over the Roadrunners heading into the final three games of the regular season.

Any combination of Colonel wins and Roadrunner losses that add up to two next weekend, would clinch the eight seed for the Colonels, giving Nicholls its first Southland Conference tournament appearance since 2000.