THIBODAUX, La. - After a back-and-forth affair through five innings, the Nicholls State University baseball team exploded for eight runs in the sixth en route to a 16-7 victory against HCU in the series opener Friday night at Ben Meyer Diamond at Didier Field.
The 16 runs were the second most for the Colonels (20-16, 6-4 SLC) this season, trailing the 20 they scored in a win over Southeastern Baptist. It was also the most runs for the program in a Southland game since scoring 22 in a victory over former member Stephen F. Austin in 2018.
The offense matched its run total with 16 hits and had five different players with two or more.
Edgar Alvarez led the team with three hits while
Parker Coddou,
Austin Cain and
Jaden Collura all drove in three runs each.
With Nicholls trailing 7-6 after five, Cain started the big inning in the sixth with an RBI double.
Wes Toups drove in a pair on a single to center and then Coddou highlighted the frame with a 3-run bomb for his team-leading sixth homer. Collura also had an RBI on a bases load walked while
Brayden Kuriger drove in a run on a base hit.
Collura added the game's final two runs on a base hit in the seventh.
Tyler Theriot and
Gavin Galy combined for nine strikeouts in 7.2 innings of relief. Galy tossed 4.2 shutout innings and allowed just one hit for the win.
The first inning saw a combined seven runs cross the plate. HCU took advantage of a shaky start by
Chase Gearing who walked two and hit another. The Huskies scored twice on a pair of groundouts before Austin Roccaforte roped an RBI double. But Nicholls answered with four hits in the bottom half off of Baylor Baumann. Alvarez plated the first run on an single and was followed by two run-scoring doubles by
Gerardo Villarreal and
MaCrae Kendrick, and a Cain sacrifice fly.
HCU regained the lead in the second, but the Colonels tied it at 5-5 on a balk. After a scoreless third, Nicholls went up 6-5 in the fourth thanks to an RBI single by Cain.
In the fifth, the Huskies used three hits to grab a 7-6 advantage. With the score tied at 6-all, Galy came into the game with the bases loaded and one out and limited the damage to just a sacrifice fly.
The decisive sixth for the Colonels was fueled by five hits and three walks. Nicholls scored all eight runs with one out.
ON DECK
Game 2 Saturday night is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
