Colonels announce new signees
May 23, 2018
Middle school group carrying confidence to next level
May 23, 2018
The Nicholls baseball team knew going into this weekend that it needed a lot of things to happen to reach the Southland Conference Tournament.
But first, they needed to sweep Central Arkansas.
The Colonels did that, then gathered around a TV to check on scores around the league.
When the final pitches were thrown, the math added up and the Colonels lived to play another day.
Nicholls swept the Bears and finished the regular season with a 26-30 record, including a 14-16 mark in league play.
Because Northwestern State beat UNO after the Nicholls game went final, the Colonels earned the No. 7 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament. They will face No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana today at noon in Sugar Land, Texas.
This is the first time since 2015 that Nicholls will compete in the Southland Conference Tournament and coach Seth Thibodeaux said couldn’t be prouder of the fight his team showed this weekend.
Nicholls entered play this weekend two games out of the No. 8 spot in the league. They needed to sweep the Bears and get help in three other series’ around the conference to achieve their goal.
I’m really proud of our team,” Thibodeaux said. “We had to earn it the hard way by sweeping a very good UCA team with our backs against the wall. It’s good to be back in Sugar Land and our players are very hungry for the postseason.”
Nicholls seems to be playing their best baseball at the right time of the season.
That matters in a league with as much parity as the Southland.
This past weekend, the Colonels rolled past the Bears with all phases – offense, defense and pitching.
Game one of the series almost ended Nicholls’ hopes.
The Bears led Nicholls 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, which meant that the Colonels had to have a huge rally to keep their hopes alive.
They did exactly that.
Joey Morales and Chet Niehaus led off the inning with consecutive base hits off Bears’ closer Conner Williams.
The big blow came one batter later when Kyle Knauth cleared the bases with a two-RBI double which tied the game at 4.
The next batter, Lee Clark, was hit by a pitch, which gave the Colonels runners at first and second with no outs.
The Bears made a pitching change, going to Tanner Wiley, who induced a fly out which advanced the lead runner to third.
Dillon Belle then walked, which loaded the bases for Gage Teer who induced a fielder’s choice ground out to the shortstop, which scored the winning run and secured the 5-4 win for Nicholls.
Christian Bahlinger was huge for the Colonels in the win, getting 11 clean outs without allowing a run in relief of Cayden Hatcher, who pitched 5.1 innings and allowed four runs.
Bahlinger’s work was the start of something good for a Colonels’ pitching staff, which dominated the rest of the series.
The Colonels won Friday and Saturday by the same margin – 4-0.
On Friday, starter Alex Ernestine was golden, posting a complete game shutout, while allowing just five hits in his 132 pitches.
Ernestine was on point throughout the game, striking out 10 batters, while facing just six hitters above the minimum for the game.
The pitching work allowed Nicholls’ offense to ease into control of the game.
The Colonels scored single runs in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to build a lead which wouldn’t be relented.
Nicholls had five players post multi-hit games in the win, including Morales, Niehaus, Lee Clark, Brady Bell and Teer.
That set the stage for the season finale on Saturday where the Colonels still needed to win and also get a little help around the conference to punch into the Top 8.
The Colonels did their part, thanks to another gem on the mound.
Like Ernestine the day before, Nicholls starter Jacob Bedevian was dominant on the mound, tossing a complete-game shutout to beat the Bears.
Bedevian allowed just six hits and one walk in the win, scattering the Bears’ lineup with five strikeouts in his 110 pitches.
The game was scoreless through three innings, but Nicholls dominated the middle innings, scoring two runs in the fourth, then single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to grab control for good.
Central Arkansas tried to threaten late in the game, getting a leadoff single in the top of the seventh inning.
But Bedevian dominated the rest of the game. After the hit, he retired nine-straight Bears hitters to secure the win.
After the Nicholls game ended, the Colonels moved into wait and see mode. They needed Northwestern State to beat UNO to officially make it to the Southland Tournament. The Demons cooperated, beating the Privateers to take that series, which put Nicholls in a three-way tie for seventh place with Texas A&M – Corpus Christi and UNO. The Colonels earned the No. 7 seed out of that group because of tiebreakers.
Corpus Christi was the odd team out.
So now, we moveto Sugar Land where Nicholls will battle Southeastern for the fourth time this year.
Nicholls lost two-of-three against the Lions this season, winning 6-3, then losing 10-3 and 9-2.
If Nicholls wins that game, it will face the winner between No. 3 Northwestern State and No. 6 McNeese State on Thursday at 4.
If the Colonels lose, they will face the loser of that game Thursday at 9 a.m. in a win or go home game.
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