Box Score and Play-by-Play

HOUMA, La. - Junior lefty Dalton Torres allowed just one earned run over 7.1 IP and the Colonel defense delivered several clutch plays in the field to preserve a 3-2 win for the Nicholls State University baseball team (9-14) over Loyola-New Orleans (10-25) at Southland Field in Houma on Tuesday night.

Torres handcuffed the Wolpack lineup and pitched out of several jams during the longest outing of his career.  One week after throwing 7.0 IP against Tulane, Torres allowed nine hits but still limited Loyola-New Orleans to just one earned run before turning things over to freshman right hander Dylan Delaune with one out in the top of the eighth.

Nicholls struck first as junior designated hitter Jeremy Hill drilled a single through the right side of the infield to score senior center fielder Bear Comer from second and stake Nicholls to a 1-0 lead after the first. 

Torres pitched around one hit in each of the first three innings to keep the Wolfpack off the board through the first third of the game, but Loyola-New Orleans finally got on the board in the top of the fourth.  With one out and the bases loaded, Torres coaxed a potential double play ball off the bat of Brien Delahouysse.  Senior shortstop Chase Jaramillo fielded the grounder cleanly and delivered the feed to fresn second baseman Philip Lyons for the first out, but Lyons' relay throw went wide of the first base bag, allowing Tyler Duplantis to score the tying run.  Fortunately, for Nicholls, junior first baseman Blake Bergeron corralled the errant throw and delivered a strike to home plate to nail Chris May who was trying to score from second and end the inning with the score tied at 1-1.

After being turned away in the home half of the fourth, the Colonels struck again with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-1 lead.  After a one-out walk to Comer, Jaramillo was hit by a pitch and the duo moved up on a ground out off the bat of Hill.  Bergeron drew a two-out walk to load the bases and senior right fielder Scott Moseley drilled a sharp ground ball to the right side that the Wolfpack second baseman couldn't handle.  Comer and Jaramillo scored to put the Colonels up by two.

However, Loyola refused to go quietly as a bases loaded walk brought home the second Wolfpack run of the night with two outs in the top of the seventh to make it 3-2 heading into the eighth.

Loyola threatened to tie the game in the eighth as Duplantis drove a leadoff single through the left side before taking second on a sacrifice bunt to put the tying run in scoring position and chase Torres from the game.  The Colonels turned to Delaune who struck out the first batter he faced for out number two, but a single up the middle threatend to score Duplantis and tie the game.  Fortunately, for Nicholls, Comer played the ball perfectly in center field and delivered a strike on one hop to home plate to nail Duplantis at the plate to end the inning with Nicholls up 3-2.

Loyola had one last threat in them in the top of the ninth as Evan Turkish led off the inning getting hit by a pitch.  Fortunately, the Colonels responded with a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play on the ensuing steal attempt.  After a two out single, Delaune induced a game-ending ground out to preserve the 3-2 win.

The Colonels will return to action on Wendesday in the second game of a seven-game homestand, hosting Alcorn State for a 6 p.m. first pitch at Ray E. Didier Field.  A free live streaming audio webcast will be made available at www.ThibodauxOnline.com and on the baseball schedule page of www.geauxcolonels.com.