Baseball: April 29 Scoreboard
Nicholls 16, Louisiana-Monroe 6
McNeese State 13, Southern 5
Louisiana-Lafayette 6, New Orleans 3
Texas Southern 6, Lamar 2
Louisiana Tech 11, Stephen F. Austin 3
Nicholls 16, Louisiana-Monroe 6
THIBODAUX, La. – Things looked bleak for the Nicholls State University baseball team, facing a four-run deficit in the first inning, but the squad fought back, erupting offensively and cruising to a 16-6 victory on Wednesday night at Ray E. Didier Field.
Nicholls’ 16 runs were a season-high, surpassing its previous mark of 14 against Alcorn State on March 31. The Colonels also set season-highs in total bases (25) and doubles (four), while falling just shy of their season-high for hits, with 16 on the night. The Dirty Red finished with a season-high 16 assists and the Nicholls pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts without a conceding a single walk.
The Warhawks (21-24) shocked the Colonels (25-16-1) early, scoring with four quick runs in the first inning. With winds gusting towards the wall in left center at 19 mph, ULM took full advantage. Keelin Rasch launched a triple to the centerfield wall and came home on a Kodie Tidwell single to left. Danny Springer subsequently registered home run over the wall in left center, clearing the bases. In the next at bat, Spencer Hemphill homered just inside the left field foul pole.
Nicholls punched back in the second inning, cutting the Warhawks’ lead in half. Seth Stevens earned a leadoff walk before Justin Smith crushed a two-run home run to right center. The Colonels subsequently loaded the bases, threatening to tie or take the lead, but ULM was able to close out the inning without further damage.
After a scoreless third, Nicholls absolutely caught fire in the fourth, rallying to take a 9-4 lead with seven runs on seven hits in the frame. David Zorn doubled to right center before Joey Morales walked. The Colonels successfully executed a double steal and an errant throw from the Warhawks catcher allowed Zorn to score. In the next at bat, Holt doubled down the leftfield line, trading places with Morales. After a pitching change, Darius Knight doubled to center field, sending Holt home. Knight advanced to third on a wild pitch, before Kyle Reese singled to left, bringing Knight in. Reese stole second and advanced to third on a line-drive single from Stevens. Smith subsequently notched a base-clearing double to right center. Smith took third on a wild pitch, before coming home on a Christian Correa single to left center.
Nicholls added two additional runs in the fifth. Holt fired a line-drive single off the midsection of the ULM pitcher, Josh Leon, and advanced to second on a balk. Knight notched a nearly identical line-drive single that bounced off of the glove Leon, advancing Holt to third. On the next play, Knight successfully stole second and a wild pitch allowed Holt to score. The following batter, Reese, singled through the right side, sending Knight in and giving the Colonels an 11-4 advantage.
Nicholls added five insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth.
The Warhawks chipped in a pair of runs in the ninth, but the game was long out of reach.
Righty Cole Stapler got the start for the Colonels, surrendering four runs on four hits through an inning of work. Righty Marc Frazier (2-5) picked up the win, allowing just five hits, with six strikeouts through six scoreless innings on the mound. Ryan Deemes was dominant in relief, allowing just one hit, while fanning three batters through one frame on the hill. Zach Thiac tossed the final inning, allowing two runs on three hits with two strikeouts.
Brayden Bouchey (4-3) took the loss, giving up five runs on five hits, with three walks and fanning one batter in 3 1/3 innings on the mound.
Seven Nicholls batters recorded multi-hit outings, led by Smith, who finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Not to be outdone, Reese went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and scored once. Knight was 2-for-3 at the plate, scoring twice and batting in a run. Holt finished 2-for-4 and scored twice with an RBI. Zorn was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Stevens went 2-for-4 with two runs. Correa turned in a 2-for-4 outing with an RBI.
Springer paced ULM offensively, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
The Colonels will look to continue their outstanding offensive play this weekend as the team hosts Houston Baptist in a three-game Southland Conference series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. Game two is slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday and the series-finale is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three matchups will be broadcast live on KTIB 640 AM.
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McNeese State 13, Southern 5
BATON ROUGE, La. – Whether it was his career performance at the plate or the last batter of the game that he faced and struck out in only his first pitching appearance, McNeese State senior Connor Lloyd did all that he could to help his team notch an important 13-5 road victory over Southern at Lee-Hines Field Wednesday night.
Lloyd enjoyed a career outing in the contest batting 4-for-5 along with a double, a triple, three runs scored and a career-high five runs batted in. The Marshall, Texas native joined fellow teammate Andrew Guillotte as the only two Cowboys to have four hits in ballgame this season. His five-RBI performance comes just a few days after having watched junior Cameron Toole accomplish the same goal against Nicholls.
The win improved McNeese to 25-20 on the season while the Jaguars dipped to 13-22 overall this year. The Pokes were able to snap a six-game road skid with the victory and also scored their first win at Southern’s home field for the first time since defeating the Jags, 10-1, on March 1, 1990.
McNeese accounted for 16 hits in the contest and received multiple-hit performances from Lloyd, Guillotte and juniors Connor Crane and Billy Sommers. Crane turned in three RBIs and a stolen base on the evening while senior James Cantu knocked in two in the middle of the contest. In total, McNeese received hits from eight different batters.
Starting pitcher Trent Fontenot (4-3) worked the first inning and picked up the win despite surrendering a run off of three hits and a strikeout.
The bullpen was as equally effective in the contest as eight relievers combined to work the next eight innings and gave up only two earned runs on five hits. Together, the Pokes struck out 13 Jaguar batters.
Trailing by a run in the early going, McNeese responded with a five run explosion in the second inning as senior Andrew Guillotte was able to load the bases and freshman Joe Provenzano remained calm to draw a walk and tie the game. Lloyd opened up the inning with a two-run double and was followed by Sommers and Crane who helped extend the lead to a 6-2 score in favor of the Pokes.
After having tacked on another run in the third inning, McNeese received another score from senior James Cantu who launched his second home run of the season in the top of the fourth frame. His two-run tater scored himself and Lloyd as the Pokes climbed out to a seven run lead over the Jaguars.
McNeese scored four more runs in the fifth inning that was highlighted by a pair of two-RBI single from Lloyd and Crane that extended the Cowboys’ lead to 13-2 score over Southern. The two runs driven in by Lloyd totaled his RBI count to a team-high five on the evening.
It was the third time this season that McNeese scored 10 or more runs in a game.
Southern scraped across three runs in the sixth and seventh innings before being blanked the rest of the way.
The Pokes will return to Southland Conference action this weekend as they welcome Stephen F. Austin to Cowboy Diamond for their final three-game conference series of the season. First pitch is slated for a 6 o’clock start.
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Louisiana-Lafayette 6, New Orleans 3
LAFAYETTE, La.
– The New Orleans Privateers baseball team (14-30) commenced a sixth inning rally to tie the game, but fell short in a 6-3 loss to the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (29-15) on Wednesday evening at Tigue Moore Field.
Trailing 3-0 in the sixth, the Privateers got a one-out single by Sam Carriere. After a strikeout, Hezekiah Randolph pulled a double into left to score the first run. Then Jonathan Santana came up and doubled to the gap on a breaking ball to tie the game at 3-3.
The Cajuns were able to take the lead right back in the bottom half of the frame. A lead-off walk was followed by a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. Dylan Butler then hit a ground ball to third and reached on a fielder's choice while the go-ahead run scored. Later in the inning, Nick Thurman hit an RBI single to push the Cajuns advantage to 5-3. The Cajuns closed the scoring on an RBI fielder's choice in the eighth.
The scoring started from one of three Privateers errors. After an error allowed the lead-off batter in the second inning to reach, Evan Powell drove in the first run on an RBI sacrifice fly. The Cajuns added two more in the fifth when Derek Herrington homered over the left field fence for his second round tripper of the season.
In the game, the Privateers had a 10-4 advantage in the hit column, but left a couple of opportunities on the base paths and committed three errors in the field. New Orleans used six different pitchers and Hunter Medine (0-3) took the loss.
Randolph and Ryan Calloway each had three hits. Privateer pitchers combined to record five strikeouts and issue six walks. Parker Jones also worked a multi-hit night by going 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of singles. Randolph and Santana provided the two extra base hits for New Orleans on the evening.
Chris Charpentier picked up the win for the Cajuns to move to 4-3 on the season. Reagan Bazar and Dylan Moore combined to pitch a perfect eighth and ninth inning respectively. Moore picked up his seventh save of the year. Dylan Butler scored three of the Cajuns' six runs despite not collecting a hit in three at-bats.
The Privateers will return home to begin a weekend series against Abilene Christian on Friday. First pitch for the series opener is at 6:30 p.m.
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Texas Southern 6, Lamar 2
BEAUMONT, Texas – Free passes helped Texas Southern jump out to an early lead and pad it in a three-run seventh inning Wednesday when the Lamar baseball team fell 6-2 to the Tigers at Vincent-Beck Stadium in the Cardinals’ final midweek game of the season.
TSU (23-15) capitalized on a walk in the first inning with three-straight singles. Ryan Lazo reached on the walk, and stole second base just before Javier Valdez pushed him across on single. Valdez later scored in the inning to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the middle of the first.
Jake Nash, who was 2-for-4 on the day with LU’s two runs batted in, answered with a RBI-single that scored CJ Moore. Moore reached on a walk, stole second and scored from there on Nash’s single.
Texas Southern pushed it back out to a 3-1 lead in the second inning, again it capitalized on a walk- to Zach Welz. Welz went from first to third on a failed pickoff attempt by pitcher Billy Love. He scored on an infield single off of Lazo’s bat.
The score held at 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning until Stijn van der Meer, who reached on a single up the middle, scored on Nash’s sixth double of the season. The Cardinals nearly doubled TSU’s hits, 11-6, but the Cardinals left 10 men stranded base. It was the third-straight game that LU left 10-plus batters on, four in the last five games.
Pinch hitter Samuel Terry delivered the big blow for Texas Southern in the seventh inning on a three-run triple down the right field line. He pushed across Welz, Robert Garza and Valdez. Welz and Valdez were both walked.
The Cardinals worked through nine pitchers on the day, and only Brandon Kirkham, who was perfect in two frames, worked more than one inning. LU starter Eric Foshee (2-5) was tagged with the loss with two runs on three hits and a walk.
Ryan Rios (5-1) earned the win in 5.1 innings of work. He allowed both of Lamar’s runs on eight hits and a walk. TSU went through four pitchers in the contest.
Nash, van der Meer, Kyle Markum and Mason Salazar all had two hits in the game, and Nash notched his third mulit-RBI contest of the year.
Lamar travels to first-place Southeastern Louisiana on Friday for a 6 o’clock first pitch at Pat Kennelly Diamond.
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Louisiana Tech 11, Stephen F. Austin 3
RUSTON, La.
-- Stephen F. Austin struck first with two runs in the top of the third, but Louisiana Tech rallied to outscore the Lumberjacks 11-1 over the final six innings, including a seven-run sixth, to defeat the `Jacks 11-3 at J.C. Love Field.
With the loss, SFA falls to 15-30 on the season and 8-20 all-time against the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech completes the home-and-home sweep against SFA, winning 12 of the last 13 meetings between the two.
Coming off a home series victory over Abilene Christian, SFA saw the momentum carry over into the top of the third inning as the Lumberjacks scored a pair of runs on three hits, taking the early 2-0 lead.
Kyle Thornell recorded an RBI single with
Cameron Salvaggio knocking a sacrifice fly to plate the two runs for the Lumberjacks.
After threatening with a runner at third in the fourth, SFA conceded three runs in the bottom of the fourth off a three-run home run, giving the Bulldogs the 3-2 lead. The Lumberjacks tied things up in the top of the sixth off an RBI single from
Will Vest as the `Jacks and Bulldogs were all even at 3-3 after five and a half.
But then came the seven-run sixth for Louisiana Tech, breaking the game open at 10-3. Four different SFA pitchers combined on the downpour as LaTech scored the seven runs on four hits, setting the tone for the rest of the game. The Bulldogs then added one more in the seventh, cruising to the 11-3 victory.
SFA out-hit Louisiana Tech 12-10, including a 4-for-5 night for
Conner Fikes with Vest,
Zach Valenzuela and
Brandon Smith each recording a pair of hits. But the Lumberjacks left 10 runners on base, unable to come up with the key hit in the right moments.
Starter
Tyler Day lasted 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on four hits with four strikeouts, earning the no decision.
Eric Polivka earned the loss after pitching the final out of the fifth then facing three batters in the sixth giving up a pair of runs on three hits.
Kash Armstrong was the only SFA pitcher to not allow a run, sending the Bulldogs down in the eighth.
SFA now sets its sights on a key Southland Conference series this weekend in Lake Charles, facing fifth-place McNeese State. Both teams are locked in heated battles for SLC Championship seeding as this weekend's series could help clear the muddled playoff picture. First pitch against the Cowboys is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. start Saturday and a 1 p.m. first pitch in Sunday's finale.
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