Photo by: Brogan Burns

Basiel Williams taking his batting stance in an at-bat against McNeese(5/17).

A Basiel Williams’ walk-off homerun led Nicholls baseball to a 4-3 victory over Southeastern Louisiana, advancing the Colonels to the Southland Conference Tournament Championship game on Saturday at 6 p.m.

The home run gives Williams his second in the tournament in as many games, the first coming in the seventh inning of last night’s 5-4 comeback win against Southeastern.

Williams’ who grew up in Hammond, the host city of this year’s tournament, said it meant a lot to win the game in walk-off fashion in a post-game interview.

“This is something I’ve always dreamed of. I’m blessed to be here and moving on tomorrow,” Williams said in the interview. “Shoutout to my teammates for putting me in a position to do that.”

Nicholls’ first baseman Edgar Alvarez broke the scoreless draw with a home run to right field in the third inning, giving the Colonels a 1-0.

Southeastern took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly that followed a bases-loaded walk.

An RBI double off the bat of Williams tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom half of the seventh inning.

The Colonels regained their lead in the eighth inning on a Gerardo Villareal two-out RBI single.

A second bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning gave Southeastern its third run and the game its third tie in as many innings.

Williams’ home run in the bottom of the ninth gave the Colonels the win and kept them undefeated in the tournament.

Williams led the team in hits and RBIs with two each.

Nicholls’ starting pitcher Devin Desandro led the game with five strikeouts, allowing four hits and one earned run in 6 ⅓ innings pitched.

Next Up

Nicholls plays the winner of the Lamar/McNeese State game in the Southland Conference Champions game for an automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship Tournament.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

The game is streaming on ESPN+