HAMMOND, La. - The Nicholls State University baseball team received a career outing by pitcher
Michael Quevedo with 11 strikeouts and the offense pounded out 12 hits including three home runs as the Colonels swept Southeastern with a 9-5 victory on Sunday afternoon at Pat Kennelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
The win improved the Colonels' record to 23-11 overall and 6-3 in the Southland thanks to a second road sweep. It also marked the sixth straight victory for the Colonels in the series and in Hammond with the Red & Gray sweeping the Lions in 2022 in
Mike Silva's first season.
Quevedo capped a strong showing for the Colonel pitching staff in the series sweep as the staff racked up 40 strikeouts in the three games. He finished with four earned runs on four hits in 7.1 innings and did not allow a hit until a solo home run in the fifth. `
The Colonels were led at the plate by
Edgar Alvarez and
Garrett Felix with three hits each. They both doubled in the first inning to give Quevedo a 1-0 lead before taking the mound.
Nicholls pushed its advantage to 4-0 with a three-run fourth.
Erick Ordonez drove in a pair with a double to left center and later scored on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, Alvarez went opposite field for his team-high seventh home run of the season and
Gerardo Villarreal immediately followed with a solo shot. It was Villarreal's first homer of the year and it extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
The Lions' first hit and run came in the bottom half on a TJ Salvaggio home run. But
Narvin Booker Jr. got the run back in the sixth with a solo homer, his second of the season.
Trailing 7-1, Southeastern plated the next four runs with the first three being charged to Quevedo. He allowed an RBI groundout in the sixth before leaving the game in the eighth with two on. Christian Garcia drove in both runners with a double off of
Devin Desandro and then scored on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to two.
But Nicholls added to its lead in the ninth thanks to some spotty pitching by the Lions. Ordonez was plunked with the bases loaded for an RBI before a wild pitch allowed another runner to score.
Gavin Galy finished off the Lions in the ninth and picked up the save after striking out two in 1.2 innings.
Will Kinzeler suffered the loss for SLU, allowing six earned runs on eight hits in 4.0 innings. Colonel catcher
Kade Turnage accounted for two of the hits with a pair of singles.
ON DECK
Nicholls returns home to host Northwestern State for a three-game series starting on Friday, April 12. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
