With a Southland Conference series victory over Lamar this weekend, the Colonel baseball team improved to 16-15 overall and 5-4 in SLC play. On Friday, Nicholls split a doubleheader with the homestanding Cardinals.
In game one, the Colonels defeated Lamar 9-4, while game two saw Nicholls falling 9-7. The final game of the series Saturday, saw the Colonels rallying late to take a 7-4 win.
“Offensively we did some good things,” Colonel head coach B.D. Parker said. “Rondon Anderson, Brad Dantonio, Luke Muller and Kevin Larpenter had great series’ at the plate.
“Also, we did a good job defensively. Early on we lost games because of that (errors). We have really been preaching on that, and it’s gotten better (defense).”
Nicholls has won five-straight road series, and Parker said he hopes that trend continues.
“It’s a good thing for us to be doing (winning series on the road), especially considering how tough our road schedule will be from here on out,” Parker said. “Maybe one day we can take three in a row on the road.”
Game 1: Nicholls 9 Lamar 4
The Colonels began the series against Lamar on a positive note by taking a five-run victory.
Nicholls scored its first runs in the top of the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. The runs came on RBI singles by Larpenter and Dantonio. Eventually the Colonels would add two more runs in the fifth frame to make it a 4-0 ballgame. The runs came on a Jason Wilkerson two-RBI single to center.
Lamar then answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the Colonel lead to 4-3. Those runs came on a two-RBI Mickey Hernandez single and a Pierce single, which scored Hernandez.
Nicholls responded in the sixth, scoring four runs to take an 8-3 lead. The final inning saw the Colonels tallying one insurance run, while Lamar also notched a run to make the count 9-4.
Colonel pitcher, Ronald Gilchrist recorded the win to move to 4-2 on the season. In a complete game performance, Gilchrist gave up eight hits, while striking out five.
Leading the way at the plate for the Colonels was Dantonio, as he went 4-for-4 with two RBIs.
Game 2: Lamar 9 Nicholls 7
The second half of the doubleheader saw Lamar take a two-run win.
Although Nicholls opened the game by scoring two runs, Lamar found the answer in the bottom half of the inning, tallying four runs to make it a 4-2 ballgame.
After the Colonels notched single runs in the second and fourth innings to tie the game at 4-4, Lamar fought back scoring two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take an 8-4 lead.
Nicholls answered with three runs in the top of seventh to make it a one-run game at 8-7. The runs came on a Monte Mitchell three-run homer to left field.
After scoring a single run in the ninth to make it a 9-7 ballgame, Nicholls was retired in order in the bottom half of the inning to end the contest.
Colonel pitcher, Seth Schornick tallied the loss, as he gave up three hits and two runs, while striking out two batters in his four innings of action.
Leading the Colonel bats were Dantonio and Wilkerson. The tandem combined to record five hits, while driving in four runs.
