Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team put together its best offensive game of the season in league play on Saturday, and coupled with another complete game effort from senior starter Kory Delange, the Colonels defeated the McNeese State Cowboys 9-2 clinching the first Southland Conference series win of the season.

After scoring just four runs on Friday, the Colonels (20-20, 4-10 SLC) registered 11 hits against McNeese State (19-17, 6-8) on Saturday, and put together two big scoring innings to pull ahead of the Cowboys for good, plating three runs in the third and eighth to cruise to the win.

Delange (6-3) never got into any major trouble on the day, scattering two runs nine hits with seven strikeouts to just one walk, that coming in the seventh. Of his 125 pitches, 82 were for strikes, as opposed the Cowboys who used five pitchers in the game after chasing starter Bryce Kingsley (6-4) after just two innings.

Through much of the game, the bulk of the offense came from just three players, but by the end nearly the entire lineup began to get hot at the plate as Nicholls finished the game outhitting McNeese State 11-9 after the Cowboys had led in the hit category for much of the contest. Keith Cormier continued to be a force with the bat going 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored, followed by Leo Vargas who went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

Included in those 11 hits were three for extra bases, as Brandon Jackson and Cody Dufrene each had a double, with Tyler Duplantis earning his third triple of the year. Another advantageous area for the Colonels were the walks registered, as Cowboy pitching walked 11 Nicholls batters as the Colonels doubled the amount of runners left on base, 14-7.

The Colonels got their first hit in the second, with Jackson lacing a single through the right side. After a walk to Duplantis put two on with no outs, an infield pop fly put one out on the board keeping the runners at bay. Another walk to Dufrene loaded the bases, as Mike Barba hit a ground ball off of the third baseman scoring Jackson but forcing Duplantis out at third to put Nicholls up 1-0. After a defensive change, a grounder to short ended the inning.

McNeese State got a hit in each of the first three innings, but really got something going in the third after garnering two hits with two outs. A wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, but Delange struck out the final batter to escape with another scoreless inning.

Singles by Vargas and Philip Lyons put runners at the corners and chased Kingsley from the game in the process in the bottom half of the inning. Lyons stole second to put two in scoring position, as Jackson earned a walk to load the bases. Cormier connected for a single to right field scoring Vargas easily to put the Colonels up 2-0. A sacrifice fly by Duplantis scored Lyons for the 3-0 lead and the first out, advancing Jackson and Cormier to second and third. Another walk, this time to Seth Stevens, signaled another pitching change for the Cowboys and another bases loaded opportunity, with not much changing as another walk scored Jackson to put Nicholls up 4-0. An infield pop fly and grounder ended the frame.

McNeese State's Hans Ask drove in the first Cowboy run of the game, using a two-out RBI single to right center to make it a 4-1 game. It was the second hit of the inning for the Cowboys, as the visitors tallied six through the first four innings.

Vargas opened the bottom of the fourth with a single for his second hit of the game, stealing second after the first out. After a deep fly ball out, Cormier registered his third hit of the game with a single to right scoring the Nicholls shortstop to put the Colonels up 5-1. Although Cormier stole second, and another walk to Stevens put two on, another infield popup ended the inning.

David Zorn went into the designated hitter spot in the seventh and was walked with one out. After stealing second, Dufrene doubled down the left field line to put the Colonels up 6-1. An infield single by Barba put two on, but the two never moved as a strikeout and popup ended the inning.

The Cowboys got another run in the eighth, making it a 6-2 Colonel lead after an RBI single, but the Colonels refused to be outdone as Jackson doubled down the left field line scoring Lyons from first who reached on a walk to give Nicholls a 7-2 lead. Jackson moved to third after a fielder's choice and scored on a wild pitch to make it 8-2. Jackson would have scored either way as Duplantis tripled to right center, eventually scoring on single to left center by Zorn to make it 9-2. A walk to Dufrene put two on, and following a strikeout an error at short loaded the bases with two outs. The team would be unable to plate any more runs as another strikeout ended the inning.

The series will conclude tomorrow with a 1 p.m. first pitch at Ray E. Didier Field.