Box Score and Play-by-Play

NATCHITOCHES, La. - After the Nicholls State University baseball team (14-16, 4-9 Southland Conference) took a five-run lead, and held the opposition scoreless through the first seven innings, Northwestern State (10-20, 3-10 Southland Conference) put a scare into the Colonels with a three-run eighth. 

However, the Colonels, led by staff ace Seth Webster (2-1), who logged his third consecutive 9.0 IP outing and his second complete game victory of the season, kept the Demons at bay in the ninth to secure a 5-3 win for the Colonels in the opener of a three-game Southland Conference series on Friday night in Natchitoches.

Nicholls racked up 11 hits, with four Colonels recording multi-hit games, but the Colonels did most of their scoring without having to hit. 

Nicholls struck first, plating four runs with two outs in the top of the second inning.  Junior left fielder Michael LeGrange got things going with a one-out single, a two-out walk to senior catcher Jason Dennis put runners at first and second, and freshman second baseman reached base on a wild pitch despite striking out to load the bases. 

Senior center fielder Bear Comer followed with a walk to force home LeGrange, and senior shortstop Chase Jaramillo drove home two more with a single up the middle.  Comer would come home to score on a wild pitch to put Nicholls up 4-0 in the second inning despite notching just two hits in the frame.

Nicholls added some insurance in the top of the third as junior first baseman Blake Bergeron and senior right fielder Scott Moseley started the inning with consecutive singles.  LeGrange followed by laying down a sacrifice bunt, but a Demon throwing error on the play allowed Bergeron to come home and put Nicholls up 5-0.

Meanwhile, junior right handed starter Seth Webster, who began the day ranked fourth in the Southland Conference with a 1.67 ERA, dominated early on to keep the Northwestern State lineup at bay.  Webster allowed just five hits and one walk while striking out four batters through his first 7.1 IP. 

However, Webster finally ran into some trouble in the eighth after Northwestern State strung together a walk and three consecutive one-out hits to score three runs.  After the Demons loaded the bases, Colin Bear delivered a bases-clearing double to center field to cut the Nicholls lead to 5-3.  Fortunately for Nicholls, Bear was thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple, and Webster coaxed a groundout from the next Demon batter to escape the jam without any further damage.

Webster came out to work the ninth inning for the third consecutive outing, retiring the side in order to preserve the 5-3 win.  The complete game victory for Webster comes on the heels of a March 25 complete game win at Stephen F. Austin and a 9.0 IP no decision in a Nicholls extra-inning loss to Texas-Arlington on April 1.