Box Score and Play-by-Play

THIBODAUX - What started as a pitchers' duel turned into a rout as the Nicholls State University baseball team (23-23, 12-14 Southland Conference) scored 11 unanswered runs, including three in the seventh and four in the eighth, to invoke the Southland Conference's ten-run rule and clinch a series win over Southeastern Louisiana (31-18, 14-12 Southland Conference) with an 11-1 victory in game two of a three-game conference series on Saturday at Ray E. Didier Field.

One day after setting a new season high with 16 hits in a 7-3 win over the Lions in game one of the series, Nicholls broke the season record again on Saturday.  The Colonels piled up 17 base hits in game two with senior shortstop Chase Jaramillo (3-for-5, 3B, RBI, 2 R) and senior right fielder Scott Moseley (3-for-4, RBI, 2 R) leading the way with three hits each.  Junior first baseman Blake Bergeron (2-for-5, 2 RBI), junior third baseman Austin Flores (2-for-4) and junior catcher Jason Dennis (2-for-4, R) each added a pair of hits; and junior left fielder Jeremy Hill (1-for-4, 2 RBI) joined Bergeron with a multi-RBI performance. 

For the second straight day, every Nicholls starter put his name in the hit column, and eight of nine Colonel starters had a run scored or an RBI.

However, for the second straight day, the Nicholls lineup took some time to get going.  Southeastern starter Tyler Watkins kept Nicholls off the board in the first and second, and the Lions got on the board as a Nicholls error yielded an unearned run in the top of the third, staking Southeastern to a 1-0 lead.

Fortunately, the Colonels finally broke through against Watkins in the bottom of the third.  Freshman second baseman Philip Lyons started things off by driving a leadoff double to the left center field gap.  Senior center fielder Bear Comer followed with a bunt single up the third base line.  Lion third baseman Josh Cryer attempted to get Lyons advancing to third, but Cryer's throw went down the left field line, allowing Comer to take second and Lyons to come home after Watkins was called for defensive interference on the basepaths.

Jaramillo followed with a groundout to second that advanced Comer to third and Hill drove in his first run of the day with a two-out single up the middle to score Comer and give Nicholls a 2-1 lead after three.

That would be all junior left handed starter Patrick Shreve would need as the Nicholls southpaw delivered a strong performance in his longest outing since being sidelined on March 12 with an arm injury.  Shreve scattered seven hits and one unearned run while not allowing a walk and striking out six batters in 6.0 IP. 

Shreve's was just the latest strong outing from the Colonel pitching staff in conference play.  In their last eight Southland Conference outings, Nicholls pitching has recorded just a 1.17 ERA while also recording a 2.79 K/BB ratio and a 5.1 K/9.0 IP mark.

With Shreve holding the Lions in check, the Nicholls lineup looked to give their starter some additional support.  Nicholls added one in the fourth when Moseley scored on a double play ball, and the Colonels added another in the sixth as Moseley came around to score again on an RBI single by junior DH Beau Faulk to put Nicholls up 4-1.

Shreve handed things off to junior left hander Brad Delatte, who came on in relief in the top of the seventh, and the Lions threatened to get back into the ballgame.  Southeastern put runners at first and second with one out, but Delatte recorded a pair of fly outs to escape the top of the seventh inning with Nicholls still up 4-1.

The Colonels then broke the game wide open in the home half of the seventh, stringing together three hits and talking advantage of a walk and a Lion error to plate three more runs and chase Watkins from the game.  Jaramillo's RBI triple was the biggest blow as Nicholls went up 7-1 heading into the eighth.

Southeastern threatened again against Delatte in the top of the eighth, putting runners at first and second with one out once again.  However, Delatte escaped the jam as Flores snared a line drive off the bat of Lion right fielder Cody Gougler and doubled off Southeastern left fielder Jeff Harkansee at second base for an inning-ending double play.

Nicholls then put things on ice in the bottom of the eighth.  Dennis and sophomore second baseman Ray Eureste (who entered the game as a pinch runner for Lyons in the seventh) notched back-to-back one-out singles to put runners at first and third.  Comer followed with a sacrifice fly to left to bring Dennis home and make it 8-1, and Jaramillo followed with a single to put runners at second and third.

Senior left fielder Kasey Culverson (who entered the game as a pinch runner for Hill in the seventh) kept the inning alive as Southeastern recorded a pair of errors on a slow roller off Culverson's bat.  A throw from second went wide of the bag at first, allowing Culverson to reach, then as Eureste rounded third and headed for home the throw toward the plate sailed wide and into the screen.  The error allowed Eureste to score, making it 9-1, and Jaramillo and Culverson advanced to third and second, respectively; setting the stage for a two-run single up the middle off the bat of Bergeron, scoring Jaramillo and Culverson to invoke the ten-run rule.

The victory is the second ten-run rule win of the season for the Colonels, who will now look for a sweep of Southeastern Louisiana in the series finale between the two in-state rivals at Alumni Field in Hammond on Sunday.  First pitch is set for 1 p.m.  Live stats and live streaming audio webcasts will be made available at www.geauxcolonels.com and www.ThibodauxOnline.com on the day of the game.