THIBODAUX, La. - With one swing of the bat, senior
Dane Simon put an end to a seven-game losing skid for the Nicholls State University baseball team as the Colonels took Game 2 of Saturday's Senior Day doubleheader against Southeastern with a 4-3 victory in 11 innings on Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field.
Nicholls fell in the morning matchup, 8-6, which eliminated the team from a chance of hosting a pod in next week's Southland Conference Tournament. As the weekend went on, the Colonels' goal shifted from competing for a championship, to trying to secure the No. 2 seed, to playing a spoiler role. With seeding implications still in play, the victory in the finale gave Nicholls (25-22, 12-12 SLC) the No. 4 seed while Southeastern (24-27, 14-10 SLC) came up a game short of a share of the regular season title as McNeese claimed the championship with a sweep over HBU. The Colonels will head to Lake Charles as the Cowboys host one-half of the bracket, with tournament play starting Thursday.
GAME 1 - Southeastern 8, Nicholls 6
The Lions rallied with a five-run seventh to clinch the series against the Colonels with an 8-6 victory Saturday morning.
Despite having the ace of the pitching staff on mound,
Tyler Theriot, Nicholls was unable to stay in contention for a shot at hosting next week. Theriot (7-4) dropped his second straight decision, allowing five earned runs on six hits and walked three. Three of the hits came in the seventh as SLU erased a 4-2 deficit before going on to add three more runs.
Nicholls tried to mount a comeback in the eighth with a pair of RBI singles by
Edgar Alvarez and
Alec Paz, but the final five batters were sat down in order.
Paz was one of four Colonels with multi-hit days, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Garrett Felix,
Austin Cain and
Parker Coddou added two each.
Xane Washington homered in the first for an early 1-0 lead before Paz made it 2-0 in the third with an RBI single. SLU tied it with two runs in the fourth before the Colonels answered with two in the bottom half, taking the lead on a Coddou base knock. But the big seventh frame by the visiting Lions was too much to overcome.
GAME 2 - Nicholls 4, Southeastern 3 (11 inn.)
With two on and one out in the 11th inning,
Dane Simon notched his first hit of the game with a single to right center, and
Garrett Felix slid home to beat the tag as the Colonels claimed a 4-3 walkoff victory in their Didier finale.
Nicholls trailed for most of the game before a clutch run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Kody O'Conner put Nicholls ahead 3-2 in the seventh. With the bags full and two outs, O'Conner ripped the first pitch he saw into right field for two RBIs.
But the Colonels could not close it out in the ninth as three walks -- one intentional -- and an error allowed SLU to send the game into extras.
In the 11th, Simon's game winner was set up on a Felix one-out single. Coddou's walk moved Felix into scoring position and Simon slapped a 1-1 pitch off of Daniel Dugas (3-2) for a base hit and a walkoff victory.
Nico Saltaformaggio made the start, lasting 6.1 innings with two earned runs on five hits.
Nick Heckman picked up the win with 2.1 innings of relief. He recorded the final out of the ninth to strand three runners and also left a runner on third in the 10th.
Felix and Coddou paced the Colonel offense with two hits each, while Rhett Rosevear had two for SLU.
ON DECK
Nicholls will head to Lafayette for its regular-season finale, taking on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on Tuesday, May 17. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. The Colonels and Cajuns met in late March at Didier Field with Nicholls earning a 6-5 victory.
SOUTHLAND TOURNAMENT
The opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament begins on Thursday with the No. 4 Colonels taking on No.5 Northwestern State in Lake Charles. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
