NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Nicholls State University baseball program (8-8, 1-2 SLC) struggled to contain a heavy-hitting New Orleans (10-6, 2-1 SLC) squad in Sunday afternoon's decisive series finale, falling to the Privateers by a 9-1 margin at Maestri Field and surrendering the league-opening three-game set to in-state rival UNO.

After blasting out of the gate with a one-run advantage, the Colonel bats went silent for virtually the remainder of the matchup, watching as the Privateers initially knotted the score in the first before securing a lead they would never surrender in the second. Notably, the New Orleans offense composed a full-on assault to wrap up the win, posting five runs in the eighth alone to clinch a nearly-insurmountable edge on the scoreboard.

KEY STORYLINES & STATISTICS
-- With the loss, the Colonels drop to an even 8-8 record while New Orleans pushes out to a 10-6 mark.
-- Sophomore Nick Heckman (1-1) picked up the loss in his shortest start of the year, tossing just 1.1 frames with three runs allowed (two earned) on three hits before taking a seat. Meanwhile, senior RHP Peter Holland showcased tremendous bounce-back potential following his tough outing earlier this series, shutting down the Privateers across 3.2 innings of work behind a trio of strikeouts along with no runs on just one hit.
-- While only three Colonels managed to cleanly get bat-on-ball, each member of the trio -- Brayden Jobert, Xane Washington and Alec Paz -- recorded a multi-hit game with the former registering his fourth in the past six games.

UP NEXT
With the league-opening series at New Orleans concluded, the Red & Gray return home for a two-game midweek series with Mississippi Valley State, hosting the Delta Devils Tuesday, Mar. 10 and Wednesday, Mar. 11 at Ray E. Didier Field, first pitch set for 6 p.m.

STAY SOCIAL
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