Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – With strong winds wreaking havoc for most of the game, the Sacred Heart Pioneers found a way to score seven runs on 11 hits, holding the Nicholls State University baseball team scoreless through six innings eventually holding off Colonel rally late in a 7-4 win in the finale between the two teams Sunday afternoon at Ray E. Didier field.

For the first time all weekend the Pioneers (1-7) struck first and took an early 2-0 lead over the Colonels getting three hits in the third inning, getting two runs in the fifth and eighth and a single run in the seventh to put the game away after the Colonels (9-8) made it a three run game getting two in the bottom of the seventh.

Although Nicholls struck out just four times in the game, the Colonels didn't produce their first hit until the fourth inning, getting just one more in the next two innings before coming on late to get five in the final three innings. Tyler Duplantis led the team at the plate going 2-for-4 with a run scored with five other players registering a hit on the afternoon.

Nicholls starter Kory Delange, who had been nearly flawless in his first three starts, couldn't find the same magic on Sunday, lasting just five innings in giving up four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Of the three relievers that came on after Delange, only finisher Marc Picciola held the Pioneers without a run, with Jacob Rodrigue giving up a run on two hits, while Brandon Jackson gave up two on two hits.

Trailing 5-0, the Colonels were finally able to get a rally going in the seventh as back-to-back singles from Cody Dufrene and Duplantis put two runners on with no outs. After a pop fly and a passed ball moving both to second and third, Leo Vargas hit into a fielders choice scoring Dufrene to put the Colonels on the board. A grounder by Zachary LeBeouf scored Duplantis for the final run of the game, but Nicholls would leave two on unable to get anything else across the plate.

In the ninth with two runners on and one out, an unassisted groundout by Philip Lyons advanced Mike Barba and Ray Eureste to second and third, as both scored on a Keith Cormier single to right field to make the score 7-4 Sacred Heart, as the final batter struck out to end the game leaving one runner stranded. The last Nicholls runner on base in the ninth was the team's tenth that was left on at the end of an inning, as Nicholls stranded three on base in the eighth unable to put more pressure on the Pioneers going into the final frame as Sacred Heart left 11 on base during the game.

SHU starter Nick Leiningen (1-1) went 7.1 innings on Sunday, giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits with three strikeouts, being replaced by Dan Wertz who gave up the final two runs on two hits in an inning of work, lasting one out in the ninth before Troy Scribner got the final two outs. Shortstop John Murphy led all players with four hits, going 4-for-5 on the day with four RBI and a run scored, as the only Sacred Heart batter with multiple hits.

Nicholls will return to action on Wednesday night, taking on LSU in the final game of the season series at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge.