Colonels have tough weekend at Arizona

Work on Lafourche fields to begin Monday
April 4, 2018
Golf tournament set to begin in Houma
April 4, 2018
Work on Lafourche fields to begin Monday
April 4, 2018
Golf tournament set to begin in Houma
April 4, 2018

The Nicholls baseball team had a tall task this weekend in a non-conference road slate at Arizona.

The Colonels battled, but couldn’t notch a win in the three games, learning lessons that the team will be able to carry into the remainder of their Southland Conference slate.


The Colonels were swept at Arizona, falling to 9-18 on the season, but still 4-5 in Southland play.

Nicholls faced LSU last night with no score available at press-time on Monday.

They’ll host Arkansas-Pine Bluff tonight before a three-game Southland slate with Sam Houston State this weekend.


“We really take pride in playing a challenging non-conference schedule because we really think it tests our guys and gets them ready for all of the things that we face in our league,” Nicholls coach Seth Thibodeaux said before the season. “Our league is really tough and it gets better every year. You want to come into it with some seasoning and knowing what your club is made of and the easiest way to do that is by really pushing yourself in your non-conference games.”

The Colonels saw the best Arizona had to offer throughout the weekend.

The Wildcats were dominant offensively, scoring five runs right out of the gate in the bottom of the first inning in the series’ first game to help secure an 11-3 win.


Arizona recorded 15 hits in the series opener, which allowed them to plate their double-digit figure.

Six of the runs came off starter Jacob Bedevian, who pitched four innings. But Arizona scattered runs throughout the game, pouring home five in the first, one in the fourth, one in the fifth and then two in the seventh and eighth to secure the win.

Nicholls had plenty base runners, recording 11 hits of their own in the series opener. But the Colonels couldn’t get as many timely hits as the Cats, scoring just three runs, while stranding seven runners on base.


On Friday, Nicholls started to score some of those timely hits – at least in the beginning of the game.

The Colonels scored two runs in both the first and third innings to soar out to a 4-0 lead over the Wildcats – their largest advantage of the weekend.

But Arizona wouldn’t stay down for long, exploding in the middle innings to secure an 11-5 win.


They eventually got to Nicholls starter Alex Ernestine, then hit the bullpen to take control of the game.

The Wildcats scored two in the third, three in the fourth, two in the fifth and then four in the sixth inning to erase their 4-0 deficit and take a six-run lead.

Arizona used six pitchers in the win, holding the Colonels to just one run in the final six innings of the victory.


Even in the defeat, Nicholls did have some noteworthy performances offensively. Kyle Knauth, Lee Clark, Ethan Valdez and Brady Bell all had multi-hit games for the Colonels.

In Saturday’s series finale, the Colonels also had an early lead, but it was not nearly as big as their advantage on Friday.

The Colonels led 1-0 after a first-inning run, but Arizona exploded for nine runs in the first four innings to help secure a 9-3 win.


The Colonels fell behind big in the finale, but got arguably their bright spot of the weekend defensively from Parker White, who worked four relief innings without allowing a run.

White threw 46 pitches and struck out two. He allowed just two hits.

But the challenges are just beginning for Nicholls.


The Colonels returned home and faced LSU – a team in the national Top 25.

This weekend’s return to Southland Conference play won’t be a barrel of monkeys, either.

The Bearkats are 9-0 in Southland play and 20-7 overall.


They’ve swept Lamar, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Abilene Christian in their nine Southland wins. Several of the games have been lopsided.

The Bearkats are also tested against some of the top teams, as well. They beat Baylor and lost to Texas by just one run.

Earlier this season, they played a weekend classic in Houston and beat Vanderbilt, while losing to Kentucky and Mississippi State.


They also swept a weekend series with Cincinnati.

SOFTBALL ENJOYING SUCCESS

While the Nicholls baseball team tries to find a spark, the Colonels’ softball team is staying red hot.

The Colonels won two out of three games against Central Arkansas this past weekend, improving themselves to 23-10 on the season and 9-3 in Southland Conference games.


The Colonels won the series opener 2-1, then lost the second game 4-1, which pushed things to a rubber match on Saturday afternoon.

Nicholls rose to the occasion in that game, dominating the late innings with three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to score a 5-0 win.

With the wins, the Colonels are in a tie for first place in a loaded Southland Conference.


Nicholls is tied with Northwestern State, who is also 9-3. Central Arkansas sits one game back at 8-4. The Colonels and Demons will face off in a three-game series from April 20-21.

This coming weekend, the Colonels will be challenged with a weekend slate against Abilene Christian in Thibodaux.

NSU’s Thibodeaux survives coaster ride of a season


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