Devin Desandro - Nicholls Baseball
2
Northwestern St. NSU 15-17
8
Winner Nicholls NICH 18-13
Northwestern St. NSU
15-17
2
Final
8
Nicholls NICH
18-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Northwestern St. NSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 7 1
Nicholls NICH 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 X 8 12 0

W: Desandro, Devin (2-2) L: Carver, Cal (3-4) S: Gearing, Chase (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Colonels take opener against Northwestern State, 8-2

THIBODAUX, La. - Hometown product Devin Desandro threw six shutout innings and the Nicholls State University baseball offense added more than enough insurance runs late to take down Northwestern State, 8-2, in Thursday's series opener on Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field. 

Nicholls (18-13, 6-4 SLC) scored three runs in the fifth, plating one on a wild pitch before Xane Washington delivered a 2-run single. Northwestern State (15-17, 5-5 SLC) cut it to one on a 2-run homer by Daunte Stuart in the seventh, but the Colonels pieced together a 5-run fifth to put the game well out of reach.

The Colonels totaled 12 hits with Washington, Edgar Alvarez and Alec Paz each finishing with two. Washington's run-scoring single against Demon Cal Carver (3-4) came after facing an 0-2 count and fouling a total of seven pitches to stay alive. He laced a single back up the middle on pitch No. 11. 

The go-ahead inning featured a total of five hits. Austin Cain, seeing his first action in over a month, led off with a single and Parker Coddou and Dane Simon followed with a pair of bunt singles. Carver let a pitch get away with the bags full for the first run, setting up Washington's clutch single for the lead.

Desandro left the game after six innings and fanned eight batters. The Demons got their first hit in the fourth with one out and Desandro followed with two strikeouts. NSU then loaded the bases in the fifth with one down thanks to two hits and a walk, but Desandro again escaped with a foul out before fielding a grounder to keep the visitors scoreless. He ended his outing by stranding two more runners in the sixth with a pair of looking punchouts. 

Stuart's homer came off of Nico Saltaformaggio, who struck out two in the frame before allowing the 2-run shot to left center. After another Demon single, Chase Gearing took over and allowed just a hit-by-pitch in the ninth to earn his first save. 

The Colonels gave Gearing room to work with after adding five runs in the eighth. Nicholls had two hits in the inning, scoring one run on a Dane Simon single and two on an Alvarez base hit. Coddou also had an sacrifice fly RBI.

ON DECK
Nicholls will try to clinch the series Friday night in Game 2, set for 6 p.m. Tyler Theriot is set to start for the Colonels, posting a 4-2 record with a 2.53 ERA.