THIBODAUX, La. – Junior Kyle Knauth provided the only offense for the Nicholls State University baseball team Thursday night against West Virginia, finishing 3-for-4 and drove in the Colonels' lone run in an 8-1 loss to the Mountaineers at Ray E. Didier Field.
 
West Virginia (6-2) pounded out 14 hits against the Colonels (4-5), with seven going for extra bases. The Mountaineers tagged the Colonel pitching with three triples and a two-run home run en route to the 8-run night. Daniel Goff suffered the loss, allowing nine hits and five earned runs in 3.1 innings of work.
 
Nicholls was limited by starting pitcher Isaiah Kearns, who carried a perfect game into the fifth before Knauth laced a double to right center. Knauth also doubled in the seventh to make the final, driving home Lee Clark who walked earlier in the inning.
 
The biggest inning from WVU came in the fourth with the Mountaineers holding a 1-0 lead. Back-to-back triples extended the lead to 2-0 and T.J. Lake ripped a double down the third base line for a 3-0 advantage. A groundout to short made the score 4-0.
 
In the sixth, Jackson Cramer hit a two-run homer to right center off of Colonel reliever Alex Ernestine, who struck out four in 2.2 innings.
 
In the next inning, West Virginia added a run on a sacrifice fly before the Colonels ended the shutout.  Clark walked and moved to third on a failed pickoff, setting up Knauth's run-scoring double.
 
Kearns lasted 5.2 innings for WVU and struck out five. The Mountaineer bullpen combined to allow an unearned run on three hits.
 
UP NEXT

Nicholls will host Brown University for a three-game series, starting Friday, March 3. First pitch at Ray E. Didier Field is scheduled for 6 p.m.