ABILENE, Texas – The Nicholls State University baseball team outhit Abilene Christian in game one and outpitched them in game two en route to a doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon in at Crutcher Scott Field.
Nicholls (9-5-1, 2-1 SLC) took a 5-4 victory over the Wildcats (1-9, 1-2 SLC) in the first matchup and completed the sweep with a 2-0 shutout over ACU in the second contest.
GAME 1 The Colonels jumped out to an early lead for a second straight game, taking a 3-0 advantage in the top of the second inning. A
Tanner Vandevere triple to center field brought
David Zorn and
Kyle Reese in, before Vandevere came home on a passed ball.
Just like the previous night, the Wildcats responded to tie the game. A Marcelle Carter single to left scored Mason Spracklen and advanced Aaron Draper to second. Tyler Eager subsequently doubled down the left field line brought Draper and Carter home.
Nicholls fought back, determined not to let a second consecutive game slip away.
Alex Shermer doubled down the left field line in the fifth, scoring
Justin Holt. In the sixth, Reese notched a single up the middle, advanced on a Zorn single to second base and came home after a Joe Gawreih balk.
Abilene Christian continued to battle, cutting the Colonel advantage to a run in the seventh. Russell Crippen singled through the left side, allowing Draper to score. Nicholls had to use three pitchers in the frame, but won the chess match and escaped the frame with a 5-4 lead.
The Wildcats threatened with two singles in the ninth, but reliever
Stuart Holmes struck out two batters and a retired a third on a ground out to secure the victory.
Lefty
Grant Borne (1-1) earned the win, tossing nine strikeouts through six innings of work with three runs allowed.
Stuart Holmes continued his dominance out of the bullpen, throwing the final inning and fanning two batters in his sixth save of the year.
Aaron Mason (0-2) took the loss, surrendering five runs (two earned) through seven innings with two strikeouts.
Vandevere led the Colonels offensively, batting 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs.
Kyle Reese was also 2-for-3 and scored twice.
Carter paced Abilene Christian at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI
GAME 2 For a third straight game Nicholls drew first blood, scoring on a
Christian Correa ground out that sent
Darius Knight home. The Colonels added a run in the second when Shermer reached on an error, advanced to second on a Zorn sacrifice bunt, took third on a
Eagle Wuestney single to center field and came home on a wild pitch.
Neither team would score over the remainder of the contest as Nicholls completed the Saturday sweep.
Righty
Justin Sinibaldi (3-1) was the story of the day, throwing a three-hit complete-game shutout with eight strikeouts.
Thomas Altimont (0-3) took the loss, surrendering two runs (one earned) on seven hits and fanning six batters through nine innings.
Shermer returned to the Colonels' starting lineup for the first time in over a week and rewarded his coaches with a team-leading 2-for-4 day and a run scored.
Marc Frazier also registered a 2-for-4 outing.
Colton Hall and Alex Copeland each hit 1-for-3 to pace the Wildcats in the loss.
Nicholls will host ULM at 6 p.m. on Wednesday before facing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a three-game weekend series slated to begin at 6 p.m. on Friday in Thibodaux. All four 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.
