Bear Comer's two-out RBI single brought the Colonels to within a run on Friday
Box Score and Play-by-Play
THIBODAUX - The Nicholl State University baseball team (19-20, 8-12 Southland Conference) tried to rally from a 2-0 deficit, but the Sam Houston State Bearkats (27-14, 12-8 Southland Conference) scored a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to pull away for a 5-2 win over the Colonels in game two of a three-game Southland Conference series on Friday night.
The Colonels got a pair of qulaity pitching performances from senior right handed starter Brian Arceneaux and freshman left handed reliever Dalton Torres who combined to limit Sam Houston State to just two earned runs. However, three costly Nicholls errors led to three unearned runs for the Bearkats on the night.
Meanwhile, Bearkat starter Matt Shelton allowed just two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out four. Shelton, who improved to 5-0 on the season, handed things off to Michael Oros who delivered 2.0 IP of one-hit relief for his third save of the season.
Sam Houston State struck first with an unearned run in the top of the first, and the Bearkats took a 2-0 lead with a run in the top of the fourth.
Nicholls finally broke through against Shelton in the bottom of the fourth, as junior first baseman Blake Bergeron was hit by a pitch to start the inning before coming around to score on a wild pitch to make it 2-1. However, SHSU answered in the top of the seventh as an RBI double by Bearkat shortstop Braeden Riley (who recorded his 272nd career hit to set a SHSU school record) put the Bearkats up 3-1.
The Colonels rallied once again in bottom of the seventh as senior center fielder Bear Comer delivered a two-out single up the middle to score junior third baseman Mace Krol and make it 3-2.
However, the Bearkats strung together a pair of hits and took advantage of two Nicholls errors to score twice in the top of the eighth and take a 5-2 lead. Oros came on and retired six of the seven batters he faced to ice the win for SHSU.
The victory for the Bearkats ties the three-game series between the Colonels and SHSU at one game each. The two conference rivals will square off in the rubber match of the three-game series on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
