THIBODAUX, La. –
Joey Morales ripped a double down the third base line to drive in two to tie the game in the ninth before
Quade Smith recorded his first hit of the night on a single to right to give Nicholls a 7-6 walk-off victory over Alcorn State Wednesday night at Ray E. Didier Field.
The Colonels (15-11) trailed 5-0 to Alcorn before rallying with four runs in the seventh. The Braves (7-17) pushed the lead to 6-4 with a run in the eighth before Nicholls rallied for their fourth walk-off victory of the season.
A leadoff error started things for the Colonels before
Ethan Valdez scorched a single over the second baseman to put runners on first and second.
Alex Tucker then laid down a perfect bunt and Alcorn had nowhere to go with it to load the bases. The next batter, Morales, was down 0-2 before he laced a shot down the line to drive in a pair, knotting the game at 6-all.
With first base open, Alcorn intentionally walked
Ross McWhorter to reload the bases. On the first pitch, Smith sent a shot over the right fielder to give Nicholls a two-game series sweep against Alcorn, while improving the Colonels' home record to 12-3.
Nicholls had 14 hits to finish in double figures for the fourth straight game.
Chet Niehaus,
Gage Teer,
Gavin Wehby and Tucker had two hits each to lead the Colonels.
It was another short outing for the Colonels' starting pitcher as
Kyle Craft gave up four earned runs on five hits in 1.2 innings. But like in Tuesday's game, Nicholls received a strong showing out of the bullpen as three pitchers combined to allow an earned run in 7.1 innings.
Alex Ernestine pitched 4.1 innings and had an unearned run on three hits.
Adam Tarver picked up his sixth win after throwing an inning-plus with two strikeouts.
The Colonels fell behind early after Alcorn scored four in the second. The Braves scored on a bases loaded walk for the first run and added two more on a single by Wallace Rios Jimenez, who was 4-for-5 and had three RBIs. D'Vennio Warner capped the inning with a run-scoring single.
Alcorn added another in the fourth when Ernestine threw the ball away to third on a stolen base.
Nicholls could not get anything going off of Alcorn starter Patrick McMahon, who allowed five hits and no runs in 6.0 innings. But once he left the game, the Colonels mounted their comeback.
In the seventh, the Red and Gray plated their first run on a groundout by
Juan Givan and back-to-back doubles in the gap by Teer and Wehby put the score at 5-3. Tucker, who came in to catch in the fourth, sent a shot up the middle to drive in Wehby to make it a one-run game.
Alcorn's final run came in the eighth when Rios Jimenez singled to right and Justin Barna was able to slide in safely at home, just beating an outstanding throw from Wehby.
UP NEXT
Nicholls returns to action at The Did for a three-game set this weekend against Texas Southern, starting with the opener Friday at 6 p.m.
