Box Score and Play-by-Play

NEW IBERIA, La. - The Nicholls State University baseball team (12-16) rallied from an early 2-0 deficit, but the Colonels couldn't hold off a late charge by SWAC power Southern (18-9) as the Jaguars handed Nicholls a 6-4 loss at Acadian Ballpark in New Iberia on Tuesday night.

The win gives the high-flying Jaguars seven wins in their last eight contests and 11 wins in their last 13 outings.  The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Colonels, who have gone 4-2 over the first six games of a seven-game homestand.

The Jaguars struck first as consecutive solo home runs in the top of the first by Frazier Hall and Wilmy Marrero off of Nicholls freshman left handed starter Dalton Torres staked Southern to a 2-0 lead.  Fortunately, for the Colonels, Torres soon settled in by keeping the Jaguars off the board in each of the next four innings.

With Torres finding his groove, the Nicholls lineup began chipping away at Southern's freshman right handed starter Belfred Pryer.  The Colonels got on the board in the bottom of the second as sophomore catcher Cody Dufrene delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to score Scott Moseley and cut the Southern lead in half, making it 2-1 in favor of Southern after two innings.

Nicholls pulled even in the bottom of the third as junior first baseman Blake Bergeron singled home senior shortstop Chase Jaramillo to tie things up at 2-2.  The Colonels threatened for more, loading the bases with two outs, but Pryer escaped the jam to keep it knotted at 2-2 after three.

After trading zeroes with the Jags in the fourth, Nicholls took the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Bergeron drove in his second RBI of the night with a run-scoring double to bring home junior DH Jeremy Hill.  An RBI single by junior left fielder Michael LeGrange brought home Bergeron and put the Colonels up 4-2 after five.

However, the Jaguars immediately answered in the top of the sixth.  Southern strung together three hits, including a triple and a double, and used a pair of sacrifice flies to tie the game at 4-4.  With the go-ahead run at third with two outs, Torres looked to escape the inning without any further damage, but a Nicholls error on what would have been an inning-ending ground ball, allowed the third run of the inning to score and put Southern up 5-4 after six.  The Jags added some insurance in the top of the seventh as Hall launched his second solo homer of the night, staking Southern to a 6-4 lead.

Meanwhile, Pryer regained his composure, retiring six of the final seven batters he faced before turning things over to the Southern bullpen after 7.0 IP.  Joshua Rochelle and Kyle Wahl recorded one three-up-three-down inning of relief each to keep the Colonels off the board and preserve the win for Southern.

The Colonels will return to Thibodaux tomorrow, concluding a seven-game homestand by hosting the University of New Orleans.  First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Ray E. Didier Field.