BATON ROUGE, La. - Nico Rijo-Berger homered in the first inning but it would be the lone run scored for the Nicholls State University baseball team in a 12-1 loss in eight innings to No. 2 LSU on Wednesday afternoon at Alex Box Stadium.

The Tigers (5-0) answered with five runs in the bottom half before going on to claim the run-rule victory.

Nicholls totaled three hits with Caston Thompson and Keegan Giger adding singles in the opening frame. Rijo-Berger's long ball cleared the bleachers in left field and the Colonels loaded the bases after the two singles and an error, but could not extend the 1-0 lead.

In the Tigers' first at-bat, a wild pitch allowed the first run to score before Trent Caraway hit a grand slam to cap the five-run inning.

Nicholls was kept without a hit the rest of the way while LSU plated a run in the second, two in the sixth, one in the seventh, then John Pearson ended the game early with a walk-off three-run homer in the eighth. 

Will Mabry took the loss with six earned runs on three hits in 1.1 innings, walking four while striking out one. Tyler Avery highlighted the bullpen as he struck out three in 2.1 innings of work, allowing one hit.  Cole Simoneaux and Caleb Dyess each surrendered no hits in 1.1 innings. 

The Tigers finished with eight hits, led by Jake Brown who was 2-for-5 at the plate. Zac Cowan earned the win while Reagan Rickens picked up a three-inning save.

UP NEXT
Nicholls returns to The Did for a four-game series this weekend against UT Martin. Friday's opener is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time online by clicking here.