Photo by: Brogan Burns

Parker Coddou prepares to bat against McNeese(5/17).

The Nicholls State University baseball team repeated as the Southland Conference Champions with a 15-1 run-rule victory over McNeese State University to advance to the NCAA Championship Tournament on Saturday.

The win came thanks to Parker Coddou’s two-homerun performance and pitcher Dylan Farley’s full-game outing.

Nicholls’ shortstop Parker Coddou homered in the second and fifth innings, the first drove in three runs and the second drove in two. His first home run gave the Colonels their first three runs of the game.

“It was awesome to do that for [the team] because they do so much for me,” Coddou said. “They were the ones who brought me back when I was fighting early in the tournament.”

Nicholls baseball Head Coach Mike Silva said the team needed Coddou to perform well on offense after he struggled to start the tournament. Silva added that seeing Coddou succeed in the moment was great.

“We needed him to step up. He hadn’t been there and for him to have that moment on this stage was really special.”

Starting pitcher Dylan Farley led the Colonels on defense, striking out six batters and allowing four hits and only one earned run in seven innings pitched.

Farley said he had to work all season to make his performance in the championship game possible.

“At the start of the year I found my groove and about halfway through the year I lost my stuff and had to recollect, then last week I had a great outing that I bounced off of today against the same team,” Farley said.

Farley who transferred to Nicholls in the offseason for his final year of eligibility said the team became a family to him and it felt great to win the championship with them.

“It’s a special moment. I’ve only been here one year, but in that time they became a family, and to do this with your family, it’s like nothing else.”

Head Coach Mike Silva said the road to the championship was long and the team had to fight to become champions again.

“It has not been easy for us. These guys had to work and grind, we were in a bad place a couple of months ago as a group and to see them fight and grow, you live for these moments,” Silva said. “I want them to soak it up and enjoy every second of it and I can’t put into words how special it is.”

McNeese scored the first run of the game in the first inning on a solo home run but Nicholls scored the final 15 runs.

The Colonels scored their first three runs on Coddou’s first home run to take a 3-1 lead in the second inning.

A Gerardo Villareal two-RBI double gave the Colonels their fourth and fifth runs in the fourth inning after a scoreless third inning.

Nicholls’ highest run output came in the fifth inning with six runs scored on six hits. 

The Colonels closed out the game with four runs in the seventh inning.

Next Up:

The Colonels regional destination will be revealed when the NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed on Monday.

The tournament selection show airs on ESPN2 on Monday at 11 a.m.