Final Stats Carmel Inn Showdown presented by the Sports Medicine Center of Thibodaux Regional Tournament Page

THIBODAUX, La. – Senior Taylor Byrd struck out a career-high 11 batters and the bullpen pushed its scoreless innings streak to 18 as the Nicholls State University baseball team won its third straight contest with a 3-0 victory over in-state rival ULM Friday night at Ray E. Didier Field in Day 2 of the Carmel Inn Showdown presented by the Sports Medicine Center of Thibodaux Regional.

Nicholls had seven hits in the win against ULM (3-3), led by Tyler Duplantis and Philip Lyons who were each 2-for-3. The Colonels scored two runs on sacrifice flies, one by Duplantis  in the third and one on a foul out by Christian Correa in the sixth, with the other coming on a throwing error in the fifth.

Byrd (1-1) gave up just four hits in seven innings on the bump. The 6-foot-2 lefthander faced the minimum through six innings, helped by a pickoff in the fourth and a 4-6-3 double play in the fifth. Leading 3-0 in the seventh, Byrd got two swinging strikeouts to match his career-high, which was set against Towson on Feb. 23 of last year.  ULM tagged Byrd with back-to-back singles before he sat down Ross Moore looking for his career-best 11th K.

In the eighth, the Warhawks got one-out hits off of Ryan Deemes, including a double by Chet Simoneaux, before Zach Thiac came in to record the next two outs. ULM threatened again in the ninth by loading the bases with two down against Colonel closer Marc Picciola, but Picciola forced a grounder to short to pick up his second save in as many days.

For the Colonels, Charles Morton, Leo Vargas and Justin Holt each added singles on the night. Holt came across the plate once, joining Lyons and Duplantis.

ULM's Alex Dumaine (1-1) took the loss, pitching 5.1 innings with two earned and seven strikeouts. The Warhawks were led at the plate by Keelin Rasch and Jacob Stockton with two hits each.

Nicholls will close out play in the Carmel Inn Showdown presented by the Sports Medicine Center of Thibodaux Regional on Saturday night against Southern Illinois. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m.