Nicholls Surprises Top Seed Texas State in Rout
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Nicholls chased the Carson Smith, the Texas State right-handed pitcher and Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year, out of the game before he could record an out in the third inning and cruised to a 13-2 victory in eight innings over the Bobcats for the team's first postseason victory since 1998.
Nicholls (27-27) added another run to take a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the first before the Bobcats put their first two runs on the score board in the bottom half of the inning. A three-run homer by Beau Faulk in the sixth extended the Colonels' lead to 10-2 and a three-run eighth meant the game could end in the bottom half of the inning with the league's run rule in effect.
Texas State (34-21) had the top of the order coming to the plate. Leftfielder Tyler Sibley drew a lead-off walk, but Bret Atwood grounded to second base for a potential double play. Sibley was called for interference preventing the ball from getting to first base. The Bobcats were down to their final out. Jason Martinson, who drove in the only two Bobcat runs, struck out looking to end the game. It was the first time this season Texas State had been run ruled.
Nicholls' win was its first at the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament since sweeping four games to win the title in 1998 in Shreveport, La. That year, Nicholls beat McNeese State, Texas State, Sam Houston and Northwestern State to claim the tournament title.
Wednesday, it was Clint Dempster who was dealing for Nicholls. He went all eight innings and allowed two runs on just four hits. He overcame four walks and struck out two. Of course he had the benefit of a stout offense that produced 18 hits against the regular-season champions. The Colonels left 11 men on base; Texas State left just four.
Steven Gauthe led the charge, going 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Faulk drove in four in a 2-for-5 day. Seven Colonels finished with multiple hits.
Dempster improved to 6-6, while Smith slipped to 9-4 after allowing seven runs (five earned) on nine hits.
Nicholls will play the winner of the UT Arlington vs. Stephen F. Austin game Thursday at 7 p.m. Texas State will play an elimination game against the loser between the Mavericks and Lumberjacks.
Nicholls coach Chip Durham
"Our guys are resilient and have come a long way since the start of the season. I'm just very proud of our guys and the way they battled. I think Clint Dempster is one of the best pitchers in our league; he went out and threw a great game today. He got a lot of run support from our offense, the last time we faced their pitcher a couple of weeks ago he threw a shutout against us. Our guys knew they had a challenge against them today. We went out as an 8-seed but there is so much parity in the league that whatever seed you are is really tough.
"They know he's a good pitcher and just went over the game plan with what we needed to do. We challenged our guys, they stepped up to the challenge and I'm very proud of them.
"We've come a long way in the last five years since I've been there. We've battled a lot of issues in our program and I feel like we have a great group of kids here. They fight and they claw and have a bunch of guys that just battle, play hard and don't give up."
Nicholls pitcher Clint Dempster
"I knew coming into the game it would be a big game for our school and for us. I just came out and gave it all I had, I knew my defense and my hitters would be there for me. I just went out there and located my pitches.
"Coming in, I thought maybe this would be a close game. We've been talking about all day about the pitcher but coming out and scoring in the first three innings brings me relief. I just had to go out there, locate my pitches and let my defense work.
"We knew coming in that we would be the underdog. We all know that we are better than we have been the last 10 years."
Texas State coach Ty Harrington
"That's the way the game is every once in a while if you don't take care of your business and pitch like you normally do."
"We didn't really play good defense and that set the tone negatively for us the way the game turned out. I think we could have done a better job earlier taking care of the baseball and would have gotten us deeper in the game and then you never know at that point."
"I thought the kid that pitched for them did an outstanding job. That's two times he pitched against us that he did an outstanding job and so the credit goes to them."
On Carson Smith
"He has a lot of pride and I know he is disappointed in the way things turned out for him. The good news is if we find our way back through the tournament, he will find his way back to the mound again. He's very competitive and has a lot of pride so hopefully he will get a chance to get back out there later this week."