THIBODAUX, La. - Despite totaling double figures in hits for the first time in the series, the Nicholls State University baseball team was unable to finish off the sweep against New Orleans as the Colonels fell 6-2 on Sunday afternoon on Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field.
With two Southland Conference series remaining, Nicholls (24-16, 11-7 SLC) is in a three-way tie for first with McNeese and HBU. The top two teams in the standings will host the opening round of the conference tournament.
New Orleans (23-18, 9-9 SLC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to four singles in the first inning and never trailed in the game. Kyle Khachadourian threw five innings and allowed two earned runs for the win while Jack Williams picked up a four-inning save.
Nick Heckman took the loss, surrendering four earned runs on nine hits in 3.0 innings.
Nico Saltaformaggio was solid in relief, allowing one run on two hits in 4.0 innings on the mound.
After UNO got two RBI singles against Heckman in the first,
Xane Washington belted a double for the Colonels and scored on a wild pitch. But the Privateers answered with two more runs in the fourth, highlighted by a Miguel Useche RBI double.
In the fifth, Nicholls had four hits in the inning but could only score one run on a
Dane Simon sacrifice fly.
They loaded the bases again in the sixth but this time, UNO maintained its 4-2 advantage.
Edgar Alvarez doubled and two Colonels followed with walks to fill the bags. Williams got
Jayden Kay to swing at a high fastball for the first out, then the Privateers turned a double play to end the threat. After just missing a grand slam on a deep foul ball down the right side,
Jaden Collura scorched a rocket to first base but a leaping Anthony Herron Jr. made the catch and beat the runner back to the bag for outs two and three.
After UNO added a run in the top of the seventh, Nicholls had an infield single by
Parker Coddou and Alvarez doubled in the eighth, but was not able to cut into the deficit. The duo led the Colonels with two hits each.
Pearce Howard led UNO with three hits and became the program's all-time leader in hits. Useche also had three hits and Amani Larry homered in the ninth for the final run.
ON DECK
Nicholls will step out of conference with a Tuesday night matchup against LSU. First pitch on May 3 is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
