THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team will get back in action against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a three-game weekend series that features the league's top-two pitching staffs, set to begin at 6 p.m. on Friday at Ray E. Didier Field.
The Colonels (9-5-1, 2-1 SLC) dropped their conference-opener to Abilene Christian on Friday, before sweeping a Saturday doubleheader. The team was set to face the University of Louisiana at Monroe on Wednesday, but poor weather forced a postponement of the game. The Islanders (8-5, 0-0 SLC) had lost five of their last six games before sweeping a Wednesday doubleheader against Fisher College. Corpus Christi earned a 3-0 shutout over the Falcons in game one before registering a dominant 11-1 win in game two.
The Islanders lead the all-time series with the Colonels 17-9, and have won the last five meetings, including a 3-2 victory on May 22 last season that eliminated Nicholls from the Southland Conference Tournament.
Corpus Christi is second in the Southland with a 3.08 ERA, while the Colonels are first in the conference and third in the nation with a 1.64 ERA. Nicholls has three of the top 10 starting pitchers in the conference this season. Right-hander
Ryan Deemes (2-0) is first in the league with a 0.54 ERA, righty
Justin Sinibaldi (3-1) is third in the Southland with a 1.04 ERA and lefty
Grant Borne (1-1) is sixth in the SLC with a 1.57 ERA. Borne is also first in the conference in strikeouts with 27 this year. Southpaw reliever
Stuart Holmes is first in the league in saves with six this season and carries a 1.00 ERA.
Right-hander Matt Dalton (1-2) leads the Islanders' pitching staff and is fourth in the league with a 1.13 ERA. Righty reliever Jacob Dorris is second in the Southland with four saves on the season, and earned a save against the Colonels at the SLC tournament last year.
The Colonels are set to start right-hander
Marc Frazier (1-2) on Friday. He enters with a 3.52 ERA through 20.1 innings this season. Borne will take the mound on Saturday, with Sinibaldi closing out the series on Sunday.
Danton is slated to take the bump on Friday for Corpus Christi. Lefty Travel Belicek (1-1) will start on Saturday and carries a 3.38 ERA. Righty Garrett Harris (2-1) has a 4.48 ERA, and will take the mound in the series-finale.
Frazier leads Nicholls at the plate this season, batting .381 with seven RBIs, six runs and two home runs.
Kyle Reese is second on the team with a .302 average and has five doubles.
Christian Correa has a team-high eight RBIs and
Justin Holt paces the squad with 11 runs scored.
Seth Stevens and
Tanner Vandevere are tied for second in the Southland for triples this year, each registering two.
Darius Knight is second in the conference in both sacrifice bunts and sacrifice bunts per game.
Kyle Danford spearheads the Islander offense with a .340 average, three home runs and team-highs in both RBIs (16) and runs (12). Casey Thomas has the highest batting average on the squad at .364, and Tyler Ware leads the team with five stolen bases this season.
The Colonels will battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. on Friday, 6 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three contests will be broadcast live on KTIB 640 AM.
Visit geauxcolonels.com for live stats, video and the most up-to-date information on Nicholls baseball.
