The University of Louisiana-Lafayette tallied three runs in the sixth inning en route to posting a 5-1 victory over Nicholls Wednesday night at Rajun Cajun field in Lafayette. With the loss, Nicholls fell to 24-24 on the season, while ULL improved to 26-19.
Louisiana-Lafayette started scoring in the bottom of the third inning to make the count 1-0. With two outs and runners at the corners, Neil Simoneaux was caught in a pick off play between first and second base. On the play, Simoneaux was tagged out, but not before Matt Pavlich scored.
Nicholls answered with a run in the half of the fourth to tie the game up to 1-1. After he led the frame off with a single to left, Rondon Anderson scored later in the inning on Jason Wilkerson’s ground out.
Louisiana-Lafayette regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three runs to take a 4-1 advantage. RBI singles by Rick Haydel, Robert Shelton and Brad Saloom accounted for all the runs. The Rajun Cajuns added one more insurance run in the seventh to make it a 5-1 ball game.
Colonel pitcher, Mike Prejean notched the loss by going six innings, giving up seven hits while fanning four.
Colonels will return to Southland Conference action Saturday when they travel to Huntsville, Texas, to take on Sam Houston State in doubleheader action. The series will conclude Sunday.
Saturday’s doubleheader will begin at noon, while Sunday’s contest is set to start at 1 p.m.
Before its contest at ULL, Nicholls faced conference opponent, Texas-Arlington, and won the series by taking two-of-three from the Mavericks at Ray E. Didier field over the weekend.
Game 1: UTA 1 Nicholls 0
Even with Nicholls pitcher Ronald Gilchrist throwing a one-hitter, the Colonels were unable to tally a victory over the Mavericks in the first game of a doubleheader.
The game saw both teams combining to record just four hits, three of which came from the Colonels’ batting.
Texas-Arlington’s lone run came in the top of the first inning, when errors (a passed ball and a ground out) allowed K.J. Hendricks to score. Hendricks led the frame by encountering an error at second.
Gilchrist, who moved to 6-4 on the season, pitched a complete game striking out eight. The lone run Gilchrist gave up was unearned.
Game 2: Nicholls 4 UTA 3
Nicholls rallied to take a one-run win in the second half of the twin bill.
The Colonels took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh at 4-3 after surviving a bases loaded situation in the top of the seventh. The run came on a Rondon Anderson RBI double to left field, which scored Brad Dantonio.
Colonel hurler Ben Thompson threw a complete game and garnered the win to increase his record 4-5. He forfeited eight hits and struck out five.
Leading the way at the plate for Nicholls was Monte Mitchell, who tallied two hits to go along with three RBIs.
Game 3: Nicholls 4 UTA 0
Behind the strong pitching performance put on by Seth Schornick, Nicholls shutout the Mavericks last Sunday.
With its victory, Nicholls moved to 11-10 in SLC action.
Schornick allowed one-hit in eight innings before giving way to closer Alex Velazquez, who came in the side after giving up a hit.
Nicholls notched it first runs in the fifth inning to take a 2-0 lead. With two on and no one out, Colonel Kevin Larpenter stepped to the plate and hit a two-RBI double down the right field line, scoring Monte Mitchell and Kyle Cook.
The Colonels added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to score 4-0. Both runs were from errors, which allowed Doug Gill and Cook to score.
Leading the way for the Colonel offense were Luke Muhler and Gill, as each recorded two hits.
