THIBODAUX, La. -- Following a series opening victory on Friday afternoon, the Nicholls State University baseball team picked up a pair of victories to complete the sweep of Little Rock on Saturday night.
Game 1 - Nicholls 4, Little Rock 1
Alec Sparks struck out six and went the distance as the Colonels clinched the series with a 4-1 victory over Little Rock in Saturday's opening game of their doubleheader.
Sparks gave up a solo home run to Ty Rhoades in the second inning and went on to shut out the Trojans the rest of the way, allowing just four hits for his second win in as many starts.
Nicholls took the lead in the sixth with two runs on two hits.
Jaden Collura doubled before a passed ball allowed the tying run to score.
Tyler Johnson followed with his own double for a 2-1 lead.
In the eighth,
Chase Jans belted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for his first homer as a Colonel. Collura reached on a single and Johnson delivered again with a run-scoring base hit.
Sparks put two on in the ninth on a hit-by-pitch and walk before ending the game with his final strikeout.
Game 2 - Nicholls 8, Little Rock 6
After not having a base runner through the first four innings, Nicholls scored multiple runs in three straight frames and held on to sweep Little Rock with an 8-6 victory on Saturday night.
Nicholls had just six hits in the win but the first four resulted in runs.
Matt Melancon started the scoring with a two-run single in the fifth inning.
In the sixth, the Colonels pushed across three runs for a 5-0 lead.
Aaron Biediger doubled in a run and
Carter Jenkins followed with a pinch-hit RBI single. Melancon drove in his third runner with a single to right.
Nicholls received its second quality start of the day, this time getting 6.0 innings by
Dalton Hill. The Colonels went to the bullpen in the seventh and Little Rock used two hits and an error to score three runs, cutting the lead to 5-3.
But the Colonels got all three runs back in the bottom half.
Logan Mock and Biediger had RBI sac flies, then
AJ Cappell was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Little Rock made a rally in the eighth with three runs and had the bases loaded with one out. However,
Cole Simoneaux struck out the last two batters to preserve the 8-6 lead. Then in the ninth, he fanned the first two batters before issuing a walk. He tallied a third strikeout but the ball trickled away to the backstop, allowing the batter to reach first. With two runners on, Simoneaux was able to secure the save after
Karson Irvin made a sliding catch in center for the final out.
Hill struck out three and gave up three hits in the win. Aiden McGinnis led Little Rock with a 3-for-4 outing.
ON DECK
The Red & Gray (5-2) will play at LSU on Monday Feb.24 and host Tulane on Tuesday Feb. 25.
