Nicholls Baseball sets date for 2022 First Pitch Banquet

Nicholls State University baseball has announced that its First Pitch Banquet will take place on February 4, 2022.

The annual fundraising/season kickoff event will be held at the Foundry on the Bayou in Thibodaux. On February 18, two weeks following the banquet, Nicholls will begin its first season under head coach Mike Silva with a four-game series against Missouri.

Silva began his role as head coach for Nicholls Baseball on Friday, July 9, 2021, and has an impressive history in athletics. Before joining the Colonels, Silva served as the associate head coach at Louisiana Tech for three seasons, guiding the Bulldog pitching staff to unbridled success on the mound. Notably, LA Tech arms composed a Conference USA-best eight shutouts — including a 2-0 victory against No. 1 Arkansas — during the 2021 campaign, pacing the program to national acclaim as the Bulldogs emerged as the No. 18 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Statistically, the Louisiana Tech staff ranked fourth in the C-USA in batters struck out (454), third in saves (15), and first in runners picked off (13) for his final year with the Bulldogs; individually, Jonathan Fincher, a first-team All-Conference selection, and Jarret Whorff combined to tally three C-USA Pitcher of the Week awards under Silva’s instruction as well, and Whorff even managed National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball following his shutout of the top-ranked Razorbacks.

Before his stint with LA Tech, Silva acted as the pitching coach at Arkansas-Little Rock for two seasons, supervising the Trojan staff to the fifth-lowest ERA within the Sun Belt for the 2018 campaign. The previous year, Silva coached his pitchers to a program-record 463 strikeouts as Little Rock’s arms recorded 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings, good for third in the Sun Belt and 47th nationally.

Silva also brings experience at the professional level, as he worked as an area scout for the San Diego Padres in 2016, overseeing talent in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Before his time as a scout, Silva worked as an assistant coach at Texas State from 2013-15, helping the Bobcats reach the Sun Belt Tournament in all three seasons while guiding six student-athletes into the MLB Draft.

For his collegiate playing career, Silva served as a catcher at Northwestern Oklahoma State University from 2001-03, leading the team to three straight regional tournaments, a 49-win season in 2001, and the highest national ranking in program history at No. 11.

The four-game series will be held at Ray E. Didier Field. Nicholls will release additional information on the first-pitch banquet at a later date.

For more information or updates on the 2022 First Pitch Banquet, follow Nicholls State University Baseball team on Twitter.