THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team briefly trailed Alcorn State at the midway point of the second inning, but exploded offensively over the remainder of the game on their way to a 14-3 victory on Tuesday night at Ray E. Didier Field.
 
The Colonels (15-12-1) scored first, grabbing a 1-0 advantage in the opening frame when Kyle Reese singled to send Darius Knight home.
 
The Braves (8-21) responded in the second inning, turning a double and two singles into two quick runs and momentarily capturing the lead.
 
Nicholls punched back in the bottom of the frame, tying the contest as Joey Morales singled through the right side to score Alex Tucker. The Colonels caught fire over the next few innings, adding three runs in the third, four in the fourth, three in the fifth, one in the sixth and a final run in the seventh, while holding Alcorn State to a lone run in the eighth.
 
A total of 36 players made an appearance in the ballgame, with 19 Nicholls athletes seeing action and 17 Braves taking the field. The Colonels sent five pitchers to the mound and Alcorn State used six on the night.
 
Alex Ernestine took the mound first for Nicholls, tossing three innings and surrendering two runs on five hits with a strikeout. Cole Stapler (2-0) earned the win, allowing just one hit through three scoreless innings, while fanning five batters. Zach Thiac, Adam Falcon and Jason McDonald combined to allow just one run on one hit with four strikeouts in relief.
 
Jonathan Morales (0-3) took the loss, giving up two runs on five hits through two innings of work.
 
The Colonels had their best offensive performance of the year, hitting .457 collectively and scoring a season-high 14 runs. Nine Nicholls players registered a hit and five turned in multi-hit outings.
 
Tanner Vandevere led the Colonels offensively, batting 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Reese hit 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs. Tucker turned in a 3-for-4 day, recording two RBIs and scoring twice. David Zorn and Joey Morales each contributed two RBIs in the win.
 
LaDerrick Williams paced the Braves at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs in the loss.
 
Nicholls will face conference opponent, Incarnate Word, in a three-game home stand with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. on Thursday. Game two is set for 6 p.m. on Friday and the series-finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday. All three games will be broadcast live on KTIB 640 AM.
 
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