Box Score and Play-by-Play

BEAUMONT, Texas - The Colonels held a 1-0 lead five innings into a pitchers' duel, but the Cardinals tied things up in the sixth before a seven-run seventh gave the Nicholls State University baseball team (7-5, 0-1 Southland Conference) a 7-1 loss in the Colonels 2011 Southland Conference opener at Lamar (9-6, 1-0 Southland Conference) in Beaumont on Friday night.

Neither side could break through early on as Nicholls' starter Seth Webster and Lamar hurler Blake Ford each held the opposition scoreless through the first three innings.  The Colonels finally broke through in the top of the fourth as senior shortstop Chase Jaramillo singled, advanced to third on a base hit by junior outfielder Jeremy Hill and came home to score the first run of the game on an RBI single by junior first baseman Blake Bergeron, giving Nicholls a 1-0 lead.

It appeared that would be all the Colonels would need as Webster held the Cardinals off the board through his first 5.0 innings.  Webster allowed just five hits and four walks while striking out five batters in his 5.2 IP outing.  However, Webster finally ran into trouble in the sixth inning as a two-out walk was followed by an RBI double to tie the ballgame.

Unfortunately, for the Colonels, Lamar wasn't done yet.  The Cardinals put up a big crooked number against the Nicholls bullpen in the seventh inning, striking together five hits and three walks and taking advantage of a Nicholls error to plate seven runs and go up 8-1.

Meanwhile, after allowing the first run of the ballgame, Ford settled in for the Cardinals, allowing just one hit and one walk and getting a pair of double plays to face the minimum through the final four innings en route to a complete game victory.

The Colonels will look to rebound in game two against the Cardinals with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Saturday.  Links to live stats and a live streaming audio webcast will be made available on the baseball schedule page of www.geauxcolonels.com.