Box Score and Play-by-Play

THIBODAUX - The Colonels jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but the Tigers battled back as the Nicholls State University (7-8) and No. 5/7/8 LSU (16-1) baseball teams combined to score 20 runs on 25 hits.  LSU rallied to take the lead twice in the final four innings only to relinquish the lead to the Colonels each time.  Unfortunately, for Nicholls, the Tigers came up with four runs in the top of the eighth to put the game on ice and claim a 12-8 win at Ray E. Didier Field in Thibodaux on Wednesday night.

The Colonels struck first plating six runs in the bottom of the first inning despite recording just three hits.  Nicholls took full advantage of an LSU error and two walks to chase LSU starter Tyler Jones before he could record the first out of the inning.  A two-run triple by junior first baseman Blake Bergeron and an RBI single by junior left fielder Jeremy Hill were the biggest blows, and after one inning of play, Nicholls owned a 6-0 lead.

However, LSU showed why it was a consensus top ten pick by refusing to go away.  After Nicholls starter Mike Wisecarver retired the first seven batters he faced, LSU got back in the ballgame with a three-run third inning to make it 6-3.  Wisecarver kept the Tigers off the board for the remainder of his outing, allowing just three runs on four hits and no walks while striking out one in 4.0 IP of work.

Unfortunately, for the Colonels, Nicholls failed to break through against LSU reliever Joe Broussard.  After coming on in relief of Jones in the bottom of the first, Broussard delivered 6.0 IP of relief, keeping the Colonels off the board from the second through the fifth innings.  Meanwhile, LSU continued to chip away at the Colonel lead.  A sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth made it 6-4 in favor of the Colonels after five innings, but LSU claimed it's first lead of the night by stringing together five base hits to push three more runs across the plate and take a 7-6 lead in the top of the sixth.

The Colonels immediately answered in the home half of the sxith, however, as junior third baseman Mace Krol delivered a clutch two-out pinch hit single to score junior DH Beau Faulk from second to tie the score at 7-7 after six innings.

LSU got that run back in the top of the seventh as an RBI triple by Mikie Mahtook scored third baseman Tyler Hanover to put the Tigers back on top 8-7.  However, the Colonels once again bounced back in the home half as Faulk singled home Hill with two outs to make it 8-8 after seven innings of play.

However, LSU came up big in the top of the eighth scoring four times on three hits while taking advantage of a Nicholls error and two walks.  After seven and a half innings, the Tigers had a 12-8 lead that they would not relinquish as LSU relievers Ryan Eades and Matty Ott combined to hold Nicholls off the board in the eighth and ninth innings.

The Colonels will return to action on Friday when Nicholls hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the opener of a three-game Southland Conference series.  Nicholls will try to snap a four-game losing streak against a hot-hitting Islanders team that has turned in one of the most surprising starts to the season in the Southland Conference.  The Islanders boast wins over national powers Texas, Texas Tech and Oregon State among their ledger. 

First pitch for Friday's series opener against the Islanders is set for 6 p.m.  Game two is set for a 3 p.m. start time on Saturday and Sunday's series finale is set for a 1 p.m. first pitch.  Links to live stats and a free live streaming audio webcast will be made available on the baseball schedule page of www.geauxcolonels.com and at www.ThibodauxOnline.com.