THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team racked up 13 hits and used a seven-run fifth inning to pull away from Texas Southern to clinch the nonconference series with a 10-1 victory Saturday night at Ray E. Didier Field.
 
Quade Smith accounted for three of the hits and had a triple, while three others – Juan Givan, Gavin Wehby and Alex Tucker – had two hits each. Gage Teer had a double that highlighted the big inning, clearing the bases to give Nicholls a 10-0 advantage.
 
Nicholls scored a run in second, third and fourth innings, which was more than enough for starting pitcher Cayden Hatcher (3-2). The junior righty scattered five hits and 6.0 innings and struck out seven batters.
 
After Hatcher left the game, the bullpen turned in a solid performance, allowing three hits in three innings. Texas Southern (8-19) had two hits and scored a run off of Kyle Craft in the seventh, but Logan Alleman and Bryan Taylor each pitched an inning to keep the score at 10-1.
 
Wehby doubled in the second, leading to the Colonels' first run as he came around to score on a groundout by Joey Morales. He then drove in a run on a base hit through the right side, plating Givan from second base in the third. Smith then singled and scored on a wild pitch in the next frame for a 3-0 lead.
 
All seven runs in the fifth came with two outs and were unearned. With runners on second and third, Tucker started the scoring barrage when he roped a single up the middle to plate two. Smith's triple brought home Tucker to make it 6-0 and following back-to-back hit-by-pitchers to load the bases, Givan singled up the middle to add another run. Teer capped the inning when he smashed a 0-1 pitch over the center fielder.
 
Ryan Hawkins took the loss for Texas Southern, allowing three earned runs on six hits in 4.0 innings. The Tigers finished with eight hits, led by Charles Guillory who was 1-for-2 with an RBI.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Colonels and Tigers close out the series Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. but was moved up due to rain in the evening forecast.