Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team scored three runs in the first two innings and that's all starting pitcher Taylor Byrd would need as he held Sacred Heart to one run on six hits in a 4-1 series-clinching victory over the Pioneers Saturday night in Thibodaux.

Byrd (3-1) threw 117 pitches on the night, 81 for strikes, as the junior left-hander struck out eight Sacred Heart (0-7) batters in eight innings of work. The one run given up by Byrd was unearned and came in the eighth as he worked out of a jam by picking off two Pioneer base runners and getting a hard-drive lineout as well to keep more runners from crossing the plate. Jordan McCoy (5) came on in the ninth and shut down Sacred Heart on just 12 pitches to its three batters to earn the save and preserve the win.

Although Nicholls had two errors to SHU's one, it was the Colonels that capitalized on the Pioneer mistakes, especially by the Sacred Heart pitching staff that had four wild pitches and six hit batters in the game. The Colonels scored their first run of the first inning after a batter reached base after getting hit, scoring again later in the inning on a wild pitch to go up 2-0. The final run for Nicholls crossed the plate in the bottom of the eighth after another plunked Nicholls player eventually scored after an error put a Colonel into scoring position on the next play.

With windy conditions at the field on Saturday, the Colonels were able to once again capitalize on timely hits with three extra base knocks on the night, getting doubles from Tyler Duplantis, Matt Richard and David Zorn. Richard was the only Nicholls players with multiple hits on the night, finishing 2-for-5 with an RBI, with Leo Vargas and Mike Barba having the other two hits for the Colonels along with Duplantis and Zorn. Barba was a nightmare for the Pioneers on the bases as he stole two bags, with Philip Lyons having the other.

After getting hit on the second pitch of his at bat, Barba stole second and advanced to third, eventually scoring on a Keith Cormier sacrifice fly to give Nicholls a 1-0 lead. After the wild pitch, Lyons was walked then stole second, advancing to third on the sacrifice hit by Cormier, eventually scoring on the wild pitch.

Back-to-back doubles by Duplantis and Zorn gave Nicholls its third run of the game, but Zorn got caught at third on a relay throw from the outfield emptying the bases, which hurt a bit because Vargas singled on the next at bat before a strikeout ended the inning. Zorn crossed the plate in the eighth off of Richard's double, getting on base after getting hit and advancing on a throwing error by the pitcher. Nicholls capitalized when it needed to, but still stranded ten runners on base, including having a chance to blow the game open in the seventh with the bases loaded but couldn't capitalize on the opportunity.

Sacred Heart pitcher Nick Morrisey (0-1) took the loss, giving up all three runs on three hits with a walk and strikeout, followed by Dave Boisture who gave up just two hits, while Jesus Medina gave up the final run on a hit with three strikeouts.

First pitch for Sunday's finale against Sacred Heart is set for 1 p.m. at Ray E. Didier Field.