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Just about everything that could go wrong did for the Nicholls State University baseball team in 2016.
The end result was a 26-30 season that ended without a trip to the Southland Conference Tournament — the first time since 2013 that they missed the eight-team field.
But with a refreshed focus and a huge group of returnees back off last year’s team, Colonels coach Seth Thibodeaux said Nicholls has everything in place to rebuild quickly and prove the team’s downturn will be short-lived.
Positivity is the theme of the offseason as Nicholls recoups from a tough season filled with setbacks — both on and off the field.
Thibodeaux said Nicholls has already started planning for 2017 and the team’s offseason goals are to rebound both mentally and physically in an effort to make an NCAA Tournament push in the future.
“It wasn’t something we enjoyed — sitting at home and not competing in the Southland Tournament, that’s for sure,” Thibodeaux said. “Our players have the right mindset. Our players know that we have to recommit and be better. We’re ready to have a good, productive offseason and come back stronger and better than ever.”
For Nicholls, the injury bug was a big factor in the team’s struggles.
The Colonels opened the year hot, winning four-straight games over Mississippi Valley to roar to a 4-0 record. The team then took its lumps, losing to powers Alabama, Mississippi State and LSU before dropping two of three against Abilene Christian to open Southland play.
In the second conference series, the bug bit when All-Everything infielder Kyle Reese was drilled by a 90-plus mph fastball while batting in the third inning.
At the time of his injury, Reese was red-hot and was becoming an impossible out for opponents.
In the first weekend of the season, Reese was a scorching 12-of-15 with 13 RBI.
At the time of his injury, he was batting .403, with 21 RBI, including a 4-of-10 average in conference play.
“We knew going into the season that we had a shot if we stayed healthy,” Thibodeaux said. “But we didn’t stay healthy. It’s not making excuses, but when you’re a younger team and you lose a guy who just might be the best player in the whole conference, it has an impact. It changed our lineup and how people pitched to us. That had a really big impact to our team.”
Reese missed a month with his injuries. By the time he got back, Nicholls was buried near the bottom of the Southland standings.
But the Colonels did battle back. In the final 30 days of the season, Nicholls swept McNeese, beat Tulane, then closed the year with a three-game sweep of the University of New Orleans.
Nicholls finished the season in a three-way tie for eighth place in the standings. Tiebreaker procedures are what determined that the Colonels wouldn’t reach postseason play.
“You know, it was a tough thing, but there were a lot of positives,” Thibodeaux said. “Our schedule was tough. But we got experience out of that. Our players learned how to play in some of the biggest parks in the country against loud fans and great teams. We went on the road and won a ballgame at Nebraska. We beat Tulane twice. We swept the city of New Orleans. For Nicholls baseball to do that in a city that’s so important for us, it was a huge boost to our program.”
But now the Colonels want more.
Thibodeaux said immediately after the season ended, he started getting calls from players who expressed a desire to turn things around next season.
Thibodeaux said he’s optimistic about the team’s pitching, which will be led by Cole Stapler — a powerful righty who posted a 5-6 record with a 3.49 ERA in 14 starts last season.
Offensively, the team will look to again be scrappy to support the pitching.
Kyle Knauth will be back. He led the team in hitting with a .347 average in 2016. Also returning are starters Gavin Wehby, Ethan Valdez and Joey Morales.
“We were young and we have a lot of talented players coming back,” Thibodeaux said. “We have guys who are battle tested and who got a lot of valuable experience on the field in key situations.”
The Colonels have momentum, too, which Thibodeaux thinks matters more than people might realize.
Thibodeaux said Nicholls players watched the College World Series throughout the summer and the team is very aware that small-conference Coastal Carolina won it all.
The Colonels coach said the Chanticleers’ victory is good for college baseball and also for Nicholls.
It proves that the size of the school doesn’t matter as much as it used to and community universities can be successful if a winning formula is in place.
“It was beautiful to see,” Thibodeaux said. “They aren’t the best team.
They didn’t have the best players. But they played so dog-gone hard and with such emotion. Their will and intensity did it and it’s great for college baseball that the name on the jersey doesn’t win games, but the guys battling it out on the diamond matter the most. Next year, we want that to be us. Next year, we want to be the team that challenges our opponents every game. Next year, we want to be the ones who make a run.”
The 2016 Nicholls State University baseball season didn’t go as the Colonels planned. Instead of competing for the Southland Conference Title in Katy, Texas, the Colonels were at home — left out of the eight-team field. But with a slew of returnees back off last year’s 26-win club, Nicholls expects to return to contention next spring.
