MANHATTAN, Kan. - Shortstop
Parker Coddou hit for the cycle and finished with five hits as the Nicholls State University baseball team defeated Nebraska, 10-7, Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Kansas State's Tointon Stadium.
Coddou doubled in the first, tripled in the second and singled in the fifth. The Thibodaux native then blasted a 2-run home run in the seventh to complete the rare feat. He added another single in the ninth for his fifth hit.
Nicholls never trailed in the victory, posting a season-high 18 hits and scored in double figures for the third time this season despite stranding 12 runners for the game. Including Coddou at leadoff, the No. 1-6 hitters each posted multi-hit games.
Edgar Alvarez had three hits including one double, while
Xane Washington,
Gerardo Villarreal,
Garrett Felix, and
Austin Cain all finished with two hits.
Coddou's double in the opening frame got things started then Washington and Villarreal followed with RBI singles. Villarreal made it 3-0 after scoring on a wild pitch.
After Nebraska scored in the bottom half, Alvarez drove in Coddou who tripled for a 4-1 advantage. The Cornhuskers answered in the next inning with an RBI double by Max Anderson. But the Colonels immediately got the run back as Villarreal hit a solo homer in the fifth.
The solo shot started a stretch of three consecutive scoring plays via home runs for both teams. Nebraska followed with a 2-run homer by Brice Matthews in the fifth and Colonel starter
Jacob Mayers would leave the frame with a 6-4 lead. After a scoreless sixth, Coddou put Nicholls up 8-4 with his fourth long ball of the season as he completed the cycle.
In the bottom half of the seventh, Matthews brought Nebraska within a run after a bases clearing triple.
Nico Saltaformaggio came in with the bags full and no outs and picked up two strikeouts, but Matthews delivered on an 0-2 pitch for three Cornhusker runs.
But again, Nicholls refused to surrender the lead and scored two more runs in the eighth. A leadoff double by Alvarez made way for a Felix RBI single and then Cain made it 10-7 with a run-scoring triple.
In the ninth,
Cade Evans allowed a two-out double before picking up the save.
Mayers struck out eight batters in 4.2 innings, allowing four earned on five hits. He walked five batters and had to leave an out short of qualifying for his fourth win of the season. Samltaformaggio tossed 2.0 innings with three hits and two strikeouts.
Michael Garza took the loss for Nebraska, lasting just 1.1 innings in the start with four earned runs on six hits.
ON DECK
Nicholls will host Mississippi Valley State on Wednesday, March 22 at 6:30 p.m. at Ben Meyer Diamond at Didier Field.
