THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University baseball team opened its series with a 9-4 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday night at Ray E. Didier Field.
Nicholls (27-20, 12-7 SLC) reached double figures in hits with 11 but had trouble bringing in runners, leaving eight on base. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-25, 11-8 SLC) pounded out 13 hits, including two home runs by Max Puls, and stranded only four runners.
Xane Washington continued his offensive assault, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. The redshirt senior upped his batting average to .387 with his team-leading 14th multi-hit game. Also having at least two hits for the Colonels were
Parker Coddou,
Gerardo Villarreal and
Garrett Felix.
Felix' first base hit tied the game at 1-1 in the second inning. But Puls hit a solo shot in the third off of starter
Arturo Rodriguez and the Islanders never relinquished the lead.
Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Washington pulled the Colonels closer with an RBI single between third and short. But the Islanders countered in the sixth after a leadoff double by Tre Jones led to a Chance Reisdorph run-scoring single. In the bottom half, Nicholls had a chance to tie or take the lead after loading the bases with one out. Following a strikeout,
Basiel Williams pinch hit and drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-3 Islanders. Coddou then got a good swing on a pitch but it was lined right at second base for the third out.
AMCC tacked on another run in the seventh before a 3-run bomb by Puls highlighted a four-run inning in the ninth. Coddou tripled and scored on a Washington single but that would be the final run of the night.
Four Colonels made appearances on the mound with none throwing 3.0 innings. Rodriguez dropped to 1-3 on the season after allowing two earned runs in 2.1 innings.
Devin Desandro surrendered a pair of runs while
Gavin Galy saw his scoreless streak end at five outings, giving up a one in 1.1 innings.
Harper Jordan was responsible for all four runs in the ninth.
For the Islanders. Matthew Watson struck out four in five-plus innings while Hayden Thomas picked up the save with 3.2 innings of work. He struck out five as AMCC had a 9-1 advantage in strikeouts. Sebastian Trinidad and Diego Johnson had three hits each for the offense.
ON DECK
Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will take the field at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday for Game 2.
Jacob Mayers will be on the mound for the Colonels, squaring off against Colin Purcell.