NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team held Northwestern State to just six hits on a stormy Thursday night, but the Demons made the most of their limited opportunities, taking a 7-0 victory at C.C. Stroud Field.
The Colonels (33-17-1, 17-11 SLC) battled Northwestern State (30-20, 20-7 SLC) neck-and-neck through four innings, but the Demons took full control after an 81-minute lightning delay completely altered the course of the contest. Nicholls finished with only four hits offensively, two errors defensively and an uncharacteristic seven walks by its pitching staff.
With the win, Northwestern State clinched the No. 2 seed at the Southland Conference Tournament. The loss snaps the Colonels' nine-game winning streak and places them in a tie with McNeese State for the No. 3 seed.
The Demons struck first on Thursday, taking advantage of a leadoff walk in the second inning to score a run. Caleb Dugas drew the walk, advanced to second on a ground out and came home on a Nick Heath single to left center.
Play was halted in the middle of the fourth inning. Due to the prolonged stoppage, both starting pitchers were replaced before the contest resumed.
Cole Stapler entered the game in relief of
Ryan Deemes and Chase Hymel took over for Adam Oller.
After the break, Northwestern State capitalized on a pair of miscues by Nicholls to score a run. David Fry reached and advanced to second on a throwing error. CJ Webster subsequently singled to first and advanced to second on a second throwing error that allowed Fry to come home.
The Demons continued to feed off of mistakes from the Colonels and increased their lead to 4-0, in the fifth inning. Northwestern State was gifted two walks and a hit batter to load the bases with no outs. After a pitching change, Cort Brinson notched a single up the middle that scored two. The highlight of the night for Nicholls came as the squad turned a 4-3-2-5-6-5 triple play to end the inning and escape further damage
After two scoreless frames, the Demons added three security runs in the eighth, while keeping the Colonel offense at bay.
Deemes (5-3) took the loss, despite holding Northwestern State to just one run on two hits with two strikeouts through three innings of work.
Hymel (2-2) earned the win, surrendering only one hit and fanning three batters through 3 2/3 scoreless frames on the mound.
Tanner Vandevere,
Seth Stevens,
Christian Correa and
Kyle Knauth registered the only hits for Nicholls in the loss. Correa and Knauth each finished 1-for-1.
Brinson paced the Demons offensively, batting 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
The leading batter in the Southland Conference,
Kyle Reese, was held without a hit for the first time in 34 days. Reese and the rest of his Colonels teammates will look to rebound in game two.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday with the series-finale is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday. Both matchups 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.
