The Nicholls State baseball team dropped the deciding game in the three game series against Memphis 17-4 Sunday evening. The win was the first three-game series win for the Tigers since 2004.
“Our guys did a good job of taking what they gave us today,” Memphis head coach Daron Schoenrock said. “Nicholls battles hard, they play the game the right way and coach is going to do a good job over there.”
After giving up only one run during the first two innings of play, the Colonels pitching had a meltdown, allowing six runs in the third.
The inning started when Colonels senior starting pitcher Chris Greer got Memphis catcher Cory Barton to fly out to center. Outfielder Will Peterson followed with a single into left field. Peterson, and the next batter, K.K. Chalmers, both scored when infielder Bill Moss doubled down the left field line.
The pitching woes continued for the Colonels after Greer walked third baseman Kyle Norrid. Moss scored on the next at bat after first baseman Robbie Goss singled to right field.
The Tigers compiled three more runs and three more hits in the inning to take the 7-0 lead early.
Greer was pulled after pitching 2 2/3 innings.
The Colonels finished the day giving up 21 hits and 10 walks.
“The one thing we want our pitchers to do is throw strikes and make them beat us,” Colonels head baseball coach Chip Durham said. “On top of 21 hits we had 10 walks and a hit batter so we can’t mix in 10 free passes with 21 hits. We can’t walk 10 people in those situations.”
The Colonels responded in the bottom half of the third scoring three runs of their own.
Junior infielder Ted Wilke started the inning with a walk and stole second during the next at bat. Wile advanced to third after senior infielder Patrick Harris grounded out. Junior outfielder Michael Roberts plated Wilke with a single to right field. After
Roberts stole second, he advanced to third after senior infielder Jose Higuera singled. Roberts scored and Higuera advanced on a wild pitch from Tigers starter Marcus Davis.
The final run of the inning came from Higuera who scored on freshman outfielder Chris Barnes, single with two outs.
The Tigers put up two more runs in the second, two in the third, three in the fourth, one in the eighth and one in the ninth to finish off the Colonels.
“We made some mistakes as far as walking the lead off guy once we got a lead,” Schoenrock said. “When we got in the later innings we told our guys lets find the strike zone and play defense. No one knows what can happen in a three-game series like this.”
The other lone run for the Colonels came in the bottom of the fifth on junior infielder Thomas Bourne’s sacrifice bunt, which scored Higuera.
“I’m just very disappointed with our group,” Durham said. “It’s a sour taste for us to come out and play like we did today.”
Chris South (1-0) earned the win for the Tigers allowing one run and one hit in 2.1 innings of work.
Greer (0-2) nabbed the loss for the Colonels.
Roberts led the Colonels going 2-3 with one RBI while Moss led the Tigers going 3-3 with three RBI’s.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 6-3 on the yearwhile the Colonels dropped to 4-10.
On Saturday the Colonels defeated the Tigers 6-4, evening the series 1-1. The win followed an 8-7 loss to the Tigers on Friday.
Higuera and Barnes led the Colonels on Friday going 5-8 with four RBI’s combined.
Roberts and Bourne paved the way for the Colonels on Saturday going a combined 6-8 with four RBI’s also.
Freshman pitcher David Burch (1-0) notched the win for the Colonels on Saturday.
The Colonels return to action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Lafayette against UL-Lafayette.
