LAKE CHARLES, La. – The No. 1 seed Nicholls State University baseball team advanced to the championship game of the 2023 Southland Conference Tournament with a 5-3 win over No. 4 seed New Orleans on Friday afternoon at Joe Miller Ballpark.
Nicholls upped its record to 33-22 on the season and advances to the SLC tournament championship game for the first time since 1998 – the school’s only other championship game appearance. New Orleans fell to 35-23 on the year and takes on the winner of this afternoon’s Northwestern State/McNeese game at 6 p.m. in an elimination game.
Two-out hitting and two more outstanding pitching performances were the keys to the Colonels knocking off UNO to remain unbeaten. Four of the five runs for the Red and Gray came with two outs, with the exception being Edgar Alvarez’ solo home run in the sixth that gave Nicholls a 4-2 cushion, and five of the team’s eight hits were with two down.
On the mound, Tyler Theriot put together a strong outing with five strikeouts and no walks in 6.1 innings. He allowed three runs on six hits before leaving the game in the seventh. Gavin Galy was lights out in the bullpen for the save, fanning five Privateers in a perfect 2.2 innings. The Colonel bullpen has thrown 13.1 innings in the tournament, totaling 14 strikeouts and one walk with no earned runs.
Nicholls opened the scoring with a two-out rally in top of the second. Garrett Felix doubled to left and came home on MaCrae Kendrick’s single to right to make it 1-0. Then in the third, Parker Coddou walked, Xane Washington singled, and the duo executed a double steal to put both runners in scoring position with two out. Gerardo Villarreal brought them both home with a single up the middle to push the lead to 3-0.
In the bottom of the inning, the Privateers narrowed the deficit back to one run. Issac Williams singled to right, then came home on Tyler Bischke’s opposite field home run to cut the lead to 3-2 . Bischke has been a tough out for the Colonels with seven hits in the four matchups this season, highlighted by three homers.
After nearly sending one out of the park in his previous at-bat, Alvarez muscled an opposite field shot in the sixth to double the Nicholls lead. It was the first home run for the Colonels in the tournament.
Then in the seventh, more two-out magic resulted in an RBI single by Coddou. Felix singled earlier in the inning and Kaden Amundson kept it going with a two-out base knock to set up the 5-2 advantage.
Theriot retired the first batter of the seventh before surrendering a solo homer to Jeissy De la Cruz which turned out to be the final run of the game. Galy, who was named All-Southland Second Team as a reliever, picked up the first save of his career.
Felix was the lone Colonel with a multi-hit day, finishing 2-for-4 with a double. Jack Williams took the loss for UNO, allowing three runs on four hits in 3.0 innings.
ON DECK
The Southland Championship Game is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday. It will air on ESPN+ and ESPN Radio New Orleans 100.3 FM. As the only undefeated team remaining, a Nicholls loss would result in a second game which will be played immediately after.
{Courtesy: Nicholls Athletics}