HAMMOND, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team had just one less hit than Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, but opportunistic play from the Lions, coupled with errors by the Colonels, led to a 7-3 victory for SLU in Hammond.
The Lions (22-7, 9-2 SLC) drew first blood, scoring a run in the first inning on single up the middle. Nicholls (13-12-1, 5-6 SLC) responded to tie the game in the second when
Eagle Wuestney scored on a
Christian Correa single to right field.
Southeastern La. took advantage of two Colonel errors in the third frame to score two unearned runs and take a 3-1 advantage. The Lions added a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to increase their lead to four runs.
Kyle Reese doubled in the eighth, sending
Darius Knight home, but SLU added a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to pad their advantage.
Tanner Vandevere notched a triple in the ninth and scored on a
Justin Smith infield single, but Nicholls would come no closer.
The Colonels used 19 players, including five pitchers, in a chess-match effort to try and contend with SLU. In comparison, Southeastern Louisiana played just 12 players and only two pitchers.
Grant Borne (1-4) took the loss, surrendering four runs (two earned) on four hits with five strikeouts and four walks through five innings on the hill. In relief,
Robbie Petty,
Cole Stapler,
Zach Thiac and
Jason McDonald combined to allow three runs on four hits with a walk while fanning one batter.
Jake Johnson (5-0) was dominant on the mound for the Lions, tossing seven innings and allowing just one run on four hits with nine strikeouts.
Seven Nicholls batters registered a hit in the game, but no batter turned in a multi-hit effort in the loss. Wuestney and Smith each finished 1-for-1 to lead the squad offensively.
Daniel Midyett paced SLU at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Jacob Williams was 1-for-3 and scored three runs.
The Colonels and Lions will square off in Thibodaux for a 1 p.m. series-finale battle at Ray E. Didier Field. The matchup can be heard live on KNSU 91.5 FM.
Following Sunday's ballgame, the Colonels will battle an even more important opponent as they join the fight against childhood cancer. The team will shave their heads in support of the Vs. Cancer Foundation, which is dedicated to saving kids' lives by empowering athletes and communities to fund lifesaving childhood cancer efforts.
You can join the fight too! Visit the Nicholls Baseball Vs. Cancer page at team.vs-cancer.org/Colonels to make a donation. To learn more visit VS-CANCER.ORG or follow the organization on twitter @VS_CANCER.
Visit geauxcolonels.com for live stats, video and the most up-to-date information on Nicholls baseball.
