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March 21, 2017
With a big park and a roster full of reliable arms, the Nicholls State University baseball team loves to play low scoring, grind ‘em out ballgames.
This past weekend, the Colonels played in three, and they won them all, positioning themselves quite nicely in the early phases of the Southland Conference baseball race.
The Colonels swept Houston Baptist this past weekend, allowing just four combined runs in 27 innings to secure the three successful games.
In victory, Nicholls improved to 5-1 in Southland Conference play – just one game back of McNeese State and Sam Houston State, who are a perfect 6-0.
Colonels coach Seth Thibodeaux said that pitching is his team’s bread and butter, and they always aim to ride it to the winner’s circle in a given game or weekend.
“We have a lot of guys who we trust for outs,” Thibodeaux said. “Over the past several years, we’ve always been one of the top pitching clubs in our conference, and in some years, the country. That’s something we’ve become known for, and we take pride in limiting the opportunities our opponents have to score against us because of our mound presence and our defense.”
This past weekend, the Colonels were flawless at their calling card, putting together three-straight gems on the mound.
The stage was set early by Friday night ace Cole Stapler.
The Colonels’ top pitcher rebounded from last weekend’s slow start with one of the best performances that Nicholls will have all season.
The standout pitcher allowed just one run and three hits in a complete game win, tossing 119 pitches in the outing, striking out seven and walking just one.
But Houston Baptist’s ace pitcher was on, too, which made for a close game.
Huskies pitcher Addison Russ held the Colonels to just two hits in the game – also enjoying a complete game.
But the difference was a seventh-inning rally where Nicholls turned a walk, a sac bunt and a couple hits into their only two runs of the game.
Designated hitter Juan Givan was the hero in the win, scoring a two-run double, which gave the team the lead.
The Huskies battled back and got a run of their own in the eighth on a leadoff solo home run from first baseman Carey Jones.
But Stapler never faltered, retiring the next six-straight to seal the 2-1 victory.
The rest of the Colonels’ pitching staff was just as good for the rest of the weekend, too.
After Stapler’s gem, Cayden Hatcher pitched a beauty in Saturday’s 3-1 victory, allowing just five hits in seven innings, striking out six on 111 pitches.
After Hatcher, Nicholls got perfect relief from Alex Ernestine, who earned the hold in the eighth inning and closer Adam Tarver, who got the save.
The big blow for the Colonels came from a few unlikely, unsung heros.
Eight-hole hitter Troy Cahill muscled a towering drive over the left-center field fence, which gave Nicholls a 2-1 lead after an early 1-0 hole.
After that, little-used designated hitter Norry Galjour gave the team insurance, stroking an RBI single to add to the Colonels’ lead.
It was Galjour’s first hit of the season and only the second start of his career.
On Sunday, the Colonels won another close one – again in a strange way.
The Huskies opened the scoring first on a deep, two-run home run from Spencer Halloran, which gave the team an early 2-0 lead.
But Nicholls gradually clawed back into the game thanks to scrappy offense and starter Mike Hanchar, who settled in after the early home run and was dominant, allowing just four hits and two runs in 8.1 innings.
Catcher Alex Tucker had a hand in most of Nicholls’ offense, stroking a sixth-inning single to cut Houston Baptist’s lead to 2-1, then a deep sacrifice fly to tie the score at 2 in the eighth inning.
After scoreless relief from Tarver, Nicholls secured the win in the bottom of the ninth inning – all without getting a hit.
The inning started with hope with Chet Niehaus reaching safely to second base after a Houston Baptist error.
Next up, Ethan Valdez laid down a poor sacrifice bunt, which got Niehaus gunned down at third base, but which left Valdez on first with one out.
After a failed pickoff throw, Valdez moved from first base to third base, which left the Colonels needing a ball to be hit out of the infield to win the game.
They got something even better – a wild pitch.
With Valdez just 90 feet away, Houston Baptist pitcher Zach Carter threw a ball past his catcher, which allowed the Colonels to score the winning run and secure a comeback 3-2 victory.
The pitch was a tough ending to a good game for Carter, who went the distance for the Huskies.
With the victories, the Colonels have now flipped their record from last year in the opening two weeks of Southland play.
The Colonels started 1-5 last year, then got hot and ended up 14-16 in the league – just outside of the conference tournament.
Thibodeaux said his team heavily emphasized winning games early to avoid that from happening again in 2017.
So far, so good.
The Colonels are rolling.
“We don’t want our fate to ever be in the balance in the final week of the season,” Thibodeaux said. “We should have long clinched a spot in the conference tournament by then. We want to be a club that can build up to where we can challenge for an at-large or an NCAA Regional – even if we don’t win the league. That’s our goal. •
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