BILOXI, Miss - A pair of home runs by the Nicholls State University baseball team was not near enough against Mississippi State as the Colonels fell to the Bulldogs, 12-4, Tuesday night at MGM Park in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Nicholls (11-8) fell into a 4-0 hole after the first inning before
Edgar Alvarez blasted the first Colonel homer in the third inning. But Mississippi State (12-5) push the lead to 9-2 in the fourth and the Colonels answered with a 2-run shot by
MaCrae Kendrick in the fifth. However, it was the final runs for the Red and Gray as they dropped their second straight game.
The Colonels tallied double figures in hits with 10 but left a total of 12 runners stranded. Three came in the first inning thanks to walks issued by MSU starter Bradley Loftin, but he escaped with no runs allowed.
Colonel starter
Chat Hayes also allowed two free passes in the first. MSU went up 1-0 on a sacrifice fly and 2-0 via a groundout, then a home run by Hunter Hines gave MSU a 4-0 advantage. Hayes left the game in the first, allowing four earned on three hits.
Down 5-0 in the third, Alvarez hit a towering blast over the scoreboard to lead off the frame. Nicholls tacked on another run on a
Cade Crosby groundout. The run was set up via a walk and an error. Mississippi State got one back with an Amani Larry RBI single.
In the next inning, Alvarez singled to put two on with two outs before a tough call at first base on a
Garrett Felix groundout ended the threat. The Bulldogs broke open the game in the bottom half with three more runs, helped by another Hines home run.
Kendrick left the yard in the fifth to make the score 9-4. The Colonels then tried to put a rally together in the sixth with leadoff singles by
Parker Coddou and
Xane Washington, but Coddou was thrown out at home on a one-out base hit to left by Felix. In the ninth, Nicholls added two more singles before a strikeout ended the game.
Alvarez, Kendrick and
Austin Cain each had two hits for the Colonels.
Wes Toups also singled to extend his hitting streak to six games.
Eight Colonels pitched in the game.
Harper Jordan had a strong showing out of the bullpen, throwing 2.1 innings with three strikeouts.
