THIBODAUX, La. - After falling into a 7-0 deficit, the Nicholls State University baseball team rallied back with five runs in the late innings against Tulane, but the Green Wave escaped with a 7-5 victory Wednesday night on Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field.
Parker Coddou helped spark the rally for the Colonels (1-4), recording a base hit and scoring in a four-run seventh. He then tallied his third hit of the night, blasting a solo home run over the right field wall in the eighth for the final run of the game. Despite chipping into the deficit, Nicholls left two runners on in both innings and another in the ninth.
Nicholls outhit Tulane for the night, 12-7, but early walks and two errors in the sixth proved costly. In the first,
Luke Barbier (0-1) walked two batters before settling in to get two outs, but Chase Engelhard gave Tulane (4-0) the lead with a 3-run homer. Barbier then left the game in the second after another walk and a double which resulted in a Tulane run. The Green Wave looked to plate two on the single by Brady Hebert, but
Xane Washington threw the second runner out at the plate from right field to keep the lead at 4-0.
Tulane added to its lead in the sixth after getting extra at-bats due to a pair of errors by
Nick Fields at second base. Ethan Groff made it 6-0 with a 2-run homer and the last run scored on the second error.
But the Colonels came alive in the seventh.
Jayden Kay and Coddou singled to get things started and
Dane Simon delivered an RBI single for the first Colonel run.
Edgar Alvarez followed with an RBI double down the right field line, then Washington made it 7-3 on a run-scoring groundout.
Alec Paz ended the big inning with an sacrifice fly.
In the eighth, Coddou's homer made it 7-5 and then Nicholls tried to piece together a two-out rally. Alvarez walked and
Austin Cain singled, but Washington flew out to end the inning.
Paz singled in the final inning but Zach Devito closed it out for his first save.
Simon and Alvarez finished with two hits each, joining Coddou with multi-hit efforts. Both of Alvarez' hits were doubles with his first coming with two down in the fifth.
The Colonel bullpen had another strong outing, allowing three unearned runs in 7.2 innings.
Nick Hill struck out two in 3.1 innings while
David Vial Jr. had four strikeouts and
Chase Gearing added three.
UP NEXT
Nicholls continues its homestand with a three-game series against Mississippi Valley State over the weekend. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
