Nicholls used a solid team performance en route to posting a 12-1 seven-inning victory over visiting non-conference opponent Mississippi Valley State Monday night at Ray E. Didier Field. Colonel coach B.D. Parker said he was proud of his team’s play in all areas of the game.
“We’ve been talking about that (playing better in all areas), and telling our guys to keep working at it because things will eventually come together for us,” Parker said.
“It fell together pretty well tonight, and now we just need to take it, build on it and keep going.”
With the win, Nicholls improved to 10-12 on the season, while Mississippi Valley State fell to 2-12.
One ingredient that keyed the Colonel onslaught was pitching, as freshmen Mike Prejean and Pete Cassagne combined to give up five hits while striking out 11 batters.
Prejean’s performance in particular caught the eye of Parker.
“It was good too see Mike get back in the saddle (after tallying a loss at UNO), and throw well,” Parker said of Prejean who struck out nine in six innings of action en route to recording his third victory on the year. “He’s a real hard worker, and he found his groove tonight and was very effective.”
From the plate, seven Nicholls players recorded at least one hit as Nicholls pounded out 10 hits.
“We’ve been doing a pretty good job swinging the bat for the last couple of weeks,” Parker said. “Tonight, we put some things together and did some good things.”
Although the score was knotted at 0-0 after one-inning, Nicholls changed that quickly in its bottom half of the second, scoring four runs.
With the bases loaded and no outs, Eron Morrow stepped to the plate and laced a single to right field, which scored Doug Gill for the first run of the game. Later on, three more runs would cross the plate in a variety of ways ranging from a bases loaded walk to an error by the third baseman.
Nicholls added a single run in the third after an Aaron McRae double to center set up Morrow, who drove in McRae later in the frame on a groundout to the shortstop making the score 5-0.
Nicholls would add several runs in each of the proceeding three innings to make the final 12-1.
The lone Delta Devil run came in the seventh inning, as a Larry Beckley’s sacrifice fly scored Tyshon Rogers, who hit a double earlier in the frame.
Leading the way in hitting wise for the Colonels were Morrow and Rondon Anderson.
Morrow went 3-for-4 from the plate with three RBIs, while teammate Anderson went 1-for-2 with a home run and three RBIs. Anderson has now hit a homer in his last three games and leads the team with eight.
“I’m just getting good pitches,” Anderson said. “They’re leaving a few pitches up, and I’m just making them pay for it. Home runs come from mistakes, and I’m not missing them now.”
The Colonels will return to action at home Friday at 6:30 p.m. when they face Samford in the first of a three game set. The series will conclude with a double-header on Saturday.
Before posting its victory over Mississippi Valley State, Nicholls claimed its first Southland Conference series win as they took 2-of-3 from the University of Texas-San Antonio in a weekend series played at Ray E. Didier Field.
Game 1: Nicholls 8 Texas-San Antonio 5
Nicholls posted a three-run victory over the Roadrunners. Leading the way offensively for the Colonels was Chuck Hickman and McRae, as each hit homeruns, which accounted for six of Nicholls eight runs. Colonel pitcher, Ronald Gilchrist garnered the win, as he went eight innings, giving up 11 hits and five runs, while striking out 11.
Game 2: Nicholls 10 Texas-San Antonio 3
In the first game of a doubleheader, Nicholls posted a seven-run victory over the Roadrunners.
Leading hitters for the Colonels included Hickman, Anderson and Monte Mitchell. All three tallied two hits to go along with two RBIs. Colonel pitcher, Zach Murray, pitched all seven innings and gave up six hits, while striking out four.
Game 3: Texas-San Antonio 12 Nicholls 6
In the final contest of the series, Nicholls fell behind and was unable to rally, as the Roadrunners claimed a six-run victory.
The leading hitter for the Colonels was McRae, as he went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Colonel pitcher, Ben Thompson received the loss to move to 1-3.
UNO 10 Nicholls 9
Nicholls came up just short against homestanding UNO in a contest held on Feb. 28 at Privateer Park.
Trailing 10-5, Nicholls scored a single run in the seventh and two in the eighth to make the score 10-8. In the final frame, Nicholls loaded the bases and scored a run only to see its rally fall short. Prejean received the loss to move to 2-1 on the season.
LSU 14 Nicholls 6
On Feb. 27, the No. 2 ranked Tigers cruised to an eight-run victory over Nicholls. LSU took an 8-0 lead after three innings en route to scoring 14 total runs. Colonel pitcher, Seth Schornick, recorded the loss.
Game 1: Nicholls 8 Delta State 5
In the opening contest of a three-game set on Feb. 23, Nicholls took a three-run victory.
Trailing 5-3, the Colonels tallied five eighth-inning runs to take an 8-5 lead, which they kept. Colonel reliever, Alex Velazquez recorded the win as he pitched two innings, giving up no hits, while striking out two.
Game 2: Delta State 14 Nicholls 1
Delta State out-hit the Colonels 16-6 en route to posting a 13-run victory over Nicholls on Feb. 24. Nicholls lone run came on an Anderson RBI double.
Colonel pitcher, Zach Murray recorded the loss as he went five innings, giving up seven hits and six runs.
Game 3: Delta State 10 Nicholls 9
Nicholls dropped a close one to Delta State in the series finale of the three-game set on Feb. 25.
With the score standing at 9-6 in Nicholls favor, Delta State tallied four runs to take a one-run victory. Velazquez tallied the loss to move to 1-1 on the season.
