The Nicholls State Colonels came into Sunday’s contest against the Texas State Bobcats trying to avoid getting swept; they were unsuccessful. The Bobcats used one hit to score six runs and blank the Colonels 6-0.
Texas State head coach Ty Harrington said winning on the road in conference is a step in the right direction.
“We feel really good after this win,” Harrington said. “Traditionally, this has been a tough place for us to play; in fact two years ago was the first time in my career I had won two out of three games here. This weekend was a step in the right direction for us but we’ve still got a ways to go.”
From the get go, the Bobcats pounded out hits. Senior outfielder Heath Keel, the first batter of the game doubled to right field and later came into to score on a fielder’s choice putting the Bobcats up 1-0 early.
After the early first run, both the Colonels and Bobcats had a pitcher’s duel for the next two innings. Senior utility player Cody Merrell added to the Bobcats’ lead in the top of the fourth, scoring on junior utility player Kyle Jones’ single to left center. Merrell had doubled to left field during his at bat with two outs in the inning.
The Colonels were unable to respond in the bottom half of the fourth going three up and three down, and left two stranded in the bottom of the fifth before the Bobcats scored again in the top of the sixth on a Merrell single to left which scored senior outfielder Luke Cannon, who tripled to right field right before.
The Bobcats carried a 3-0 lead into the top of the eighth before scoring another, increasing the lead to 4-0.
After scoring two more runs in the top of the ninth, freshman pitcher Mike Hart completed a complete game shut out to close out the game.
Hart gave up only six hits through all nine innings of work.
“We’ve been pitching well for the last two weeks,” Harrington said. “Our pitching coach, John Maley, has done a fantastic job of keeping the pitchers glued in. We’re a young staff, and it’s starting to get better.”
Hart improved his record to 1-2 on the year while freshman David Burch received the loss for the Colonels (1-1).
Colonels head baseball coach Chip Durham said his team has to do a better job of hitting the ball.
“We’re just not swinging the bats very well right now, the balls are not getting through and we’re not hitting with a lot of authority,” Durham said. “We just have to keep getting better. That’s all we can do because right now we’re not good enough.”
Senior outfielder Michael Robert led the Colonels at the plate going two for four while junior infielder David Wood led the Bobcats going two for three with a double and two RBI’s.
Two Bobcats, Cannon and Merrell continued to get in the record books for the Bobcats. Cannon extended his hitting streak to nine games while Merrell added another hit by pitch to his stats giving him a league leading 10 on the season.
The Bobcats defeated the Colonels 3-1 on Friday and 6-1 on Saturday improving their record to 9-11 overall and 5-1 in the Southland Conference.
The Colonels record dropped to 4-14 overall and 0-3 in the conference with the losses.
Next up for the colonels is the No. 12 ranked Tulane Green Wave. The game is set for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Zephyr Stadium.
