LAKE CHARLES, La. – The longest game in Southland Conference Baseball Championship history ended in victory for the top seed, as the first seed Nicholls Colonels earned a 3-2 win over sixth seed McNeese in 14 innings late Wednesday night.
 
Nicholls (31-22) will now take on Lamar at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, while McNeese (34-22) faces a quick turnaround to play UIW in an elimination game at 11 a.m. Thursday.
 
The Colonels opened the scoring in the first when Parker Coddou scored from third when Gerardo Villarreal grounded into a double play.
 
McNeese tied the game in the fourth on Braley Hollins’ RBI triple, then took the lead on Brad Burckel’s sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 2-1.
 
Nicholls tied the game in the bottom of the sixth on a dropped sacrifice fly, then the offenses simply struggled to convert baserunners into runs. The teams combined to go 2-for-26 with runners in scoring position on the night.
 
A pair of walks in the bottom of the 14^th wound up finally breaking the deadlock, as Edgar Alvarez’ RBI single through the right side brought home Jaden Collura and gave the Colonels the win.
 
For Nicholls, five Colonels had two hits, including doubles by Villarreal and Wes Toups. Gavin Galy (1-1) earned the win with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
 
For McNeese, Cooper Hext went 3-for-6 as five Cowboys had multiple hits. Derrick Cherry (3-3) was hit with the loss, allowing the final run after 2.1 innings of relief. Christian Vega had 10 strikeouts and allowed only three hits in 6.0 innings of scoreless relief.