LAFAYETTE, La. - The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns scored a combined 11 runs in the third and fourth innings as the Nicholls State University baseball team was defeated 13-3 in seven innings Tuesday night at M.L. Tigue Moore Field.

Nicholls (20-11) finished with nine hits in the loss which included a double by Edgar Alvarez, who extended his hitting streak to 21 games. Gerardo Villarreal led the team with a pair of singles. 

The win for Louisiana (21-8) was its 12th straight of the season and seventh of the last eight in the series against the Colonels. UL has also won six straight in Lafayette against Nicholls with the last loss coming in 2015. 

Haden Luke made the start and lasted 1.2 innings with two runs allowed on two hits. Dylan Farley was tagged with the loss, surrendering five runs on three hits in 0.1 innings. A total of nine pitchers saw time on the mound. 

The second inning turned out to be a key early frame for Louisiana. Aaron Biediger and MaCrae Kendrick started the inning by reaching on hit-by-pitches, but Nicholls could not capitalize. After a four-pitch showing in the first to retire the Cajuns, Luke walked the first batter before giving up back-to-back doubles as UL took a 2-0 lead. 

But Nicholls answered right away with two runs in the third. Alvarez continued his MVP-caliber season with a double down the right-field line. His 21-game hit streak matched Chet Niehaus' mark set in 2018 for the longest in the last 20 years.

Alvarez then scored on a heads-up play on the base paths. Villarreal grounded out on a swinging bunt in front of the plate, but no one covered home and Alvarez scored from second for the first Colonel run. After Garrett Felix walked, Biediger hammered an 0-1 pitch off the left field wall for an RBI double to even the score at 2-2.

But from then on, it was all Ragin' Cajuns. UL pushed across five runs in the bottom of the frame before scoring six in the fourth for a commanding 13-2 lead. The Ragin' Cajuns pounded out eight hits during the stretch which included a Kyle DeBarge home run, as well as run-scoring triples by Josh Alexander and John Taylor.  

In the sixth, Cade Crosby reached on a double and scored on a pinch-hit RBI single by Jaden Collura but it was not enough to avoid the run rule.

Duncan Pastore led UL with a 4-for-4 day at the plate. Jack Martinez struck out six in four innings for the victory.

UP NEXT
The Colonels will play a three-game series at Southeastern in Hammond on April 5-7.