THIBODAUX, La. -- The Nicholls State University baseball program surged to a strong offensive start Saturday afternoon against Stephen F. Austin before starting pitcher Jacob Bedevian carried the win home behind his complete nine-inning performance, clinching a 6-3 victory over the Lumberjacks to knot the series at one game apiece on Senior Day at Didier Field.

With the win, Nicholls improves to a 26-25 overall record (12-14 Southland) on the year while SFA falls to a 22-29 mark (14-12 Southland).

While the SFA bullpen worked its way through five separate pitchers across the entirety of contest, the Colonels managed to lean on Bedevian (4-2) in his second 9.0-plus inning showing in as many appearances (tossed 12.0 frames in last Saturday's 15 inning win over Houston Baptist). The senior found his rhythm early, surrendering just three runs on seven hits while setting down five batters on strikes.

Offensively, the Colonel bats sparked early and often against the Lumberjacks pitchers, jumping out to a 1-0 edge in the first inning thanks to an Alec Paz sacrifice fly. Later in the fourth frame, all three seniors in the Nicholls batting order extended the Red & Gray advantage, as both Champ Davison and Ethan Valdez notched RBI walks before Brady Bell drilled an RBI single through the left side, capturing a 4-0 lead.

The fifth saw Christopher Sandberg and Waylon LeBlanc fight their way into the scoring action as well, as the former picked up an RBI hit-by-pitch before the latter pushed a sacrifice fly deep into left field, setting up the Colonels with a commanding 6-0 advantage entering the final stretch of the contest. The Lumberjacks managed to end the shutout behind a solo jack in the seventh frame, and an error late in the ninth allowed two more to cross home plate, closing out the final score at 6-3.

UP NEXT
The Colonels return to action on Sunday afternoon in the series rubber match against Stephen F. Austin, first pitch set for 2 p.m. at Didier Field.

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