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Box Score and Play-by-Play

SAN MARCOS, Texas - History repeated itself for the Nicholls State University baseball team (27-27) on Wednesday night as for the second consecutive season, the No. 8 seeded Colonels opened the Southland Conference Tournament with an upset of the regular season champion and No. 1 seed Texas State (31-18).

Nicholls piled up 14 hits while junior right hander Seth Webster delivered another dominant outing to give Nicholls a 6-0 win over the tournament host Bobcats at Bobcat Field in San Marcos, Texas on Wednesday night.

The game began as a pitchers' duel between Webster and Texas State starter Michael Pitts, as neither side could break through in the first two innings.  However, the Colonels finally opened the scoring in the top of the third.  Freshman second baseman Philip Lyons and senior center fielder Bear Comer delivered consecutive one-out singles to put runners on first and second and senior shorstop Chase Jaramillo followed with an RBI single to right to score Lyons and stake Nicholls to a 1-0 lead.

That would prove to be all Nicholls would need as their staff ace was in top form once again on Wednesday night.  Junior right hander Seth Webster delivered his seventh complete game of the season and his second CG shutout.  Webster, a first team all conference honoree and three-time Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week this season, scattered nine hits and two walks while striking out five batters on the night.

With Webster cruising through the Bobcat batting order, and the Nicholls defense helping out with a pair of spectacular catches by Bear Comer to go along with a pair of double plays turned by an infield that finished the regular season ranked 23rd in the nation in that category, the Nicholls lineup went about getting some help for their ace.

After being held scoreless in the fourth and fifth, Nicholls struck again in the sixth.  Junior left fielder Jeremy Hill doubled and took third on a groundout before senior right fielder Scott Moseley singled through the right side to score Hill and put Nicholls up 2-0.

The Colonels broke the game open in the eighth, stringing together three hits and taking advantage of a Texas State error and a passed ball to score three runs.  RBI doubles by Hill and Moseley were the biggest blows, producing a pair of runs, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior third baseman Austin Flores put the Colonels up 5-0. 

Nicholls added one more in the top of the ninth as an RBI single by sophomore left fielder Mike Barba (who came in as a pinch-runner for Hill in the seventh inning) scored sophomore second baseman Ray Eureste (who entered the game as a defensive replacement for Lyons in the bottom of the eighth), putting the Colonels up 6-0.

Webster completed the shutout by pitching around consecutive Texas State singles to start the bottom of the ninth inning, inducing a 6-4-3 double play ball and striking out the final batter of the night with a runner at third, preserving the 6-0 win.

The Colonels, who were swept in a three-game series with the Bobcats in San Marcos two weeks ago, have upset Texas State on day one of the tournament for the second straight year.  The Colonels notched a 13-2 win run-rule shortened victory over Texas State on the first day of the 2010 tournament in Corpus Christi.

Nicholls now advances to face a hot Sam Houston State team.  The No. 5 seeded Bearkats crushed No. 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana in a 12-0 run-rule shortened win earlier on the first day of the double-elimination tournament.  First pitch between Nicholls and the Bearkats is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday at Bobcat Field in San Marcos.  No. 1 seed Texas State will face off against Southeastern La. in a 4 p.m. elimination game on Thursday.

Links to live stats, live streaming video and live streaming audio for every pitch of every game of the 2011 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament can be found at www.geauxcolonels.com, www.southland.org and www.ThibodauxOnline.com.