The Colonels baseball team started off the season with three consecutive losses to the University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks last weekend at Ray Didier Field. “The two things we talked about doing that we have to improve on are our defense and our pitching,” Nicholls head baseball coach Chip Durham said. “We’ve got the pitching. We threw strikes, but we were up in the zone, and good-hitting teams will hit those pitches, no matter the velocity.”

Nicholls (0-3) has now lost six straight games to the Warhawks, and 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two schools.

In the opening game on Friday, both teams displayed strong defensive play and kept the game scoreless until the extra inning.

In the top of the 10th, senior Warhawk infielder Kyle Suire hit a homerun over the right center field wall and put the Warhawks on the board. Nicholls fell short of scoring in the bottom of the tenth, which sealed the 1-0 win for ULM.

Junior pitcher Derek Ward (1-0) got the win for the Warhawks, while sophomore pitcher Dale Dickerson (0-1) took the loss for the Colonels.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Durham said. “They came out and battled. We stayed with our game plan as best we could offensively facing their left-hander.”

In the second game of the series Saturday, Nicholls hoped for a better result; however, the Warhawks pounded out 14 hits and 11 runs to capture the 11-6 win over Nicholls.

Senior pitcher Justin Breaux (0-1) absorbed the loss for the Colonels. while junior pitcher Ryan Kirk (1-0) took the win for the Warhawks.

In the third and final game of