BILOXI, Miss. – The Nicholls State University baseball program will take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles Tuesday night at MGM Park, the home of the Biloxi Shuckers.
The Shuckers are a Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, a National League MLB team.
GAME INFO
MGM Park | Biloxi, Miss.
Tuesday, April 18 vs. Southern Miss | 7:05 p.m. CT
Tickets can be purchased online or at the South box office located at the complex.
COLONEL STORYLINES
In its last conference series, Nicholls (20-18) was victorious in two of three games against UIW. Senior starter Cole Stapler tossed his second complete game en route to a win this past Thursday.
Sophomore closer Adam Tarver picked up his seventh win of the season in the finale, scattering four hits in 4.0 relief innings. He leads the league in appearances with 21 and wins with seven. Those marks rank 12th and third, respectively, in Division I.
Senior Juan Givan collected five hits, including three doubles, in eight at-bats versus the Cardinals for a team-best .625 batting average.
The Colonels continue to dominate late in contests, specifically the seventh and eighth innings. Nicholls has outscored opponents 39-19 in the seventh and 19-9 in the eighth this season. The Colonels are also 11-0 this season when leading after six innings.
THE OPPONENT
The Golden Eagles also took two of three in their last series at Rice. USM (28-9) is fronted offensively by senior first baseman Dylan Burdeaux. He recorded at least one hit in each game against the Owls and recorded three hits twice.
As a team, the Golden Eagles .307 batting average ranks 20th in the country and atop Conference USA.
Like Nicholls, USM also boasts one of the more dominant closers in college baseball. Sophomore righty Nick Sandlin flaunts a 0.29 ERA, allowing just one earned run in 31 innings pitched. He also has a 7:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
SERIES SUPERLATIVE
The last time these two teams faced off was on Feb. 21, 2015. The game was tied 1-1 when rain forced the game to end as such. The Colonels bested the 29th-ranked Golden Eagles, 5-4, in 2012 in Hattiesburg.
PITCHING PROBABLES
Nicholls – Junior RHP Cayden Hatcher (3-3, 4.89 ERA)
USM – Freshman RHP Alex Nelms (1-0, 3.27 ERA)
