Floyd Picou Jr.
May 17, 2018
Organization turns over its account balance to area schools
May 17, 2018
Nicholls State University’s baseball team entered this weekend in control of their destiny in the quest to make the Southland Conference Tournament.
But after three-straight Joes-as to rival UNO. the Colonels are now on the outside looking in-in dire need of some help in the final weekend of the season if they want to play games beyond the regular season.
The Colonels entered the weekend in eighth place in the Southland. But after being swept by the Privateers. Nicholls now sits in a tie far ninth place at 11-16
Only eight teams make the Southland Tournament The Colonels trail UNO and Incarnate Word by two games.
Nicholls will face Central Arkansas this weekend in Thibodaux and the Colonels will need to sweep the Bears and get help around the league to jump back into the top eight.
That’s not going to be an easy feat
Central Arkansas is 31-20 overall and 17-10 in the league.
The Colonels lost series to both UNO and Incarnate Ward this season, so via tiebreaker rules. Nicholls must finish ahead of both teams to jump them in the standing b.
That means Nicholls needs to win three-straight this weekend, while also hoping that either Incarnate Word or New Orleans is swept.
Incarnate Word faces Sam Houston State, which leads the conference. UNO faces Northwestern State, which sits in the upper-half of the league.
No matter how it’s sliced, the Colonels missed a golden opportunity this past weekend against the Privateers.
On Friday, UNO won a-8 in a game that Nicholls actually controlled for four and a half innings.
The Colonels led 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, thanks to one run in the first inning, then two in the fifth.
But the Privateers dominated the late innings, scoring two in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2, then two more in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead.
The biggest blow came in the bottom of the eighth inning when UNO scored four more runs to send the game to its final margin, putting it out of reach for good.
Cayden Hatcher started the game for Nicholls and was solid until the seventh inning when things unraveled.
The Colonel’s bullpen was unable to stop the blaze in the eighth when things went astray.
Pitching wasn’t at all the problem for the Colonels on Saturday in a 2-0 loss.
In that game. Nicholls just couldn’t record a timely hit
Nicholls outhit UNO 7-4 in Saturdays game, but Nicholls stranded their runners all over the bases, striking out 12 times in the game.
The game went to the bottom of the eighth inning in a scoreless tie which was broken when Bean Bratton smashed a two-RBI double off Alex Ernestine to take the lead.
Ernestine was masterful, despite the late runs. He pitched a complete game, allowing just four hits, drawing the tough-luck loss.
Both Friday and Saturday’s games were at UNO, as the Privateers were the home team in the series.
But per the tradition in the Nicholls/UNO baseball rivalry, the series shifted to Thibodaux on Sunday,
Like in game one, Nicholls led early, plating five runs in the bottom of the first inning to storm out to a 5-2 lead.
But UNO never fettered.
The Privateers tied the game at 5-all with three runs in the third inning, then took control in the fourth inning with five more to cruise to a 10-5 lead.
They added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to storm out to a 12-5 lead, which held throughout the rest of the game.
Nicholls used five pitchers in the loss and only one – Austin Bollinger-had any real luck.
Starter Jacob Bedevian allowed eight hits and four earned runs in three innings.
Relief pitchers Christian Bahlinger. Zach Austin and Parker White combined to work two and two-thirds innings allowing seven earned runs.
Bollinger inherited a seven-run deficit and got quick outs, holding UNO off the scoreboard, while recording the final 13 outs of the game on the mound for Nicholls.
Before the weekend, Nicholls was in eighth place in the conference-one game ahead of UNO. which satin ninth.
But after the sweep, the roles have reversed and the Colonels are in need of a huge weekend, while also getting help.
It is not out of the realm of possibility that either UNO or Incarnate Word will lose all three games this weekend, as both are facing quality teams in the conference.
But so is Nicholls.
Central Arkansas is one of the top teams in the league-a group which has success in all phases.
But the Bears enter play with a series lose against a Louisiana team. This past weekend, they hosted Southeastern and lost two out of three games.
Nicholls had control of its own destiny this past weekend in a series with UNO. But the Colonels were swept by the Providers, which means that Nicholls must win and get some help this weekend against Central Arkansas if the team wants to punch its ticket to the Southland Conference Tournament.
