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When it comes to filling out the lineup card and penciling in a leadoff hitter before every game, Nicholls baseball coach Seth Thibodeaux doesn’t need time to think.
That’s because senior second baseman Philip Lyons isn’t leaving the role up for debate.
The Thibodaux native and former E.D. White Catholic standout has gotten off to one of the hottest starts of his career. Through the Colonels’ first seven games, Lyons batted a team-best .346 (9-for-26) with two doubles, five walks and five stolen bases.
He led the team in most offensive categories and was tied for the lead in RBIs with seven.
He has since cooled a bit, but according to Thibodeaux, Lyons was the natural choice for the Colonels’ leadoff man.
“Last year, we put him in an unfair situation. We put him in the 3-hole because we didn’t have many options,” said Thibodeaux, now in his fourth season as Nicholls’ coach. “It hurt us and it hurt him because it put a lot of pressure on him. But his natural spot in the lineup is the leadoff spot and it’s easy putting his name down.”
Lyons said he views the hot start he’s gotten off to as the result of being more relaxed in a spot he’s familiar with — and seeing more pitches. Now that he’s back in more comfortable surroundings, he’s been able to be more selective in the count.
“As a leadoff hitter, you just try to set the tone, get the guys going and start the game off right,” said Lyons. “It’s all about the momentum.”
Getting the rest of the lineup going has been a challenge through the early part of the schedule. Nicholls entered last week batting just .200 as a unit, the lowest mark of any Southland Conference team. Only two players were batting above .200 – Lyons and third baseman Tyler Duplantis (6-for-26).
The team picked up a lot of steam in recent games, scoring three wins in four games against Jackson State over the weekend.
Much of the team’s struggles at the plate came on the opening weekend of the season when the Colonels were swept in a three-game series at Houston on February 16. In that series, Nicholls was held scoreless in all but one of the series’ 27 innings.
The Colonels followed it up with a nice bounce-back effort in mid-week action, though, earning their first win of the season, 9-0 over Loyola in their home opener, and closing out the week with a pair of wins at the Carmel Inn Showdown at Didier Field to improve to 3-4 overall.
Following a 3-2 week this past week, Nicholls sits at 6-6 through 12 games.
“After that tough (opening) weekend, we didn’t panic,” Lyons said. “We know we can hit, one through nine. We just did the same thing (mid-week). We’re a little more relaxed at the plate and not putting as much pressure on ourselves.”
The rest of the team’s hitting has yet to come around, but it’s still early, and with Lyons’ consistency at setting the table, the Colonels shouldn’t have to worry much about losing their spark at the top of the order once the rest of the lineup does begin to produce.
Thibodeaux called Lyons the type of player that everyone on the team trusts.
“They know what he’s got and he really creates some things for himself,” Thibodeaux said. “We’re not at our best offensively right now, but he is going to be consistent for us all year. He’s really worked hard and put his time in the weight room and some extra time in the cages. Whenever everyone else is maybe at home, he’s in the cages. It means a lot to him to be successful, and that’s what real ballplayers do.”
That trust extends to the defensive side, where Lyons is leaving a mark as well.
A steady second baseman, Lyons has been part of a fine double-play tandem again this season with senior shortstop Leo Vargas. Thanks to that duo and some strong pitching from the Nicholls staff – whose 1.89 ERA was the second best in the conference through seven games – the Colonels had turned a conference-best 13 double-plays.
“We’ve been playing good defense,” Lyons said. “We’ve got some mature guys on the infield.”
Thibodeaux said the double players are a direct correlation to Lyons’ defense.
“The double plays that we’ve been able to turn are him being able to flip it from his position,” Thibodeaux said. “Not only that, but the double plays that we can turn from the side of the infield from third to short have a lot to do with him. There’s just a lot of trust from our guys to flip it to him.”
Now in his final season with the Colonels, Lyons knows this will be the last year he’ll play on the diamond in any official capacity in the city he’s called home — from little league to high school ball and now college.
Not surprisingly, he wants to go out on top.
“I want to go out with a (Southland) championship,” Lyons said. “All of our team is on the same page. We’ve got the right mindset and we definitely have the athletic ability to do it.”
