Rain couldn’t dampen season opener for Nicholls in 16-0 win over Sacred Heart

A daylong rain into night could not dampen the season opener for Nicholls on Friday night at Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray Didier Field.

The Colonels looked the part of a defending conference champion picking up from where they left off the 2023 season.

Offensively, the Colonels pounded out 16 runs on 13 hits to take the opener of a three-game series against Sacred Heart 16-0.

On the mound, 2023 national Freshman Pitcher of the Year Jacob Mayers also showed his form. He struck out the first two batters of the game on his way to a performance that included seven strikeouts and no hits allowed with three walks in four innings of work. He left after four innings due to being a pitch count of 80 pitches.

“I was going up there with the mentality just to throw strikes. Just trying to be consistent, growing every day as a person and just going out there doing what I’ve been working on in the pen and just trusting my ability to be a strike thrower,” Mayers said.

Nicholls (1-0) played both small ball and displayed the long ball in a seven-run second inning.

With one out, MaCrae Kendrick came up with the Colonels’ first hit of the season on a single to right. Despite a slick track because of the damp field, the Colonels were still off and running early. Drake Anderson produced a single after Kendrick took off from first, executing a perfect hit-and-run.

On Anderson’s steal of second base, a throwing error by the Sacred Heart catcher allowed Kendrick to score the first run of the season.

Basiel Willians followed with a single, scoring Anderson. After Williams stole second, he moved up to third on an infield hit on a slow roller to third base by Narvin Booker Jr.

With the bases loaded, leadoff hitter Parker Coddou drove in two runs with a single.

“We talk about that. The little things lead to the big things. We did a really good job on a hit-and–run. We did a really good job handling the bunt and running the bases. We start to steal some bags, things we’ve been working on to try to be more than one-dimensional. I felt like last year at times we had to sit around, wait for the big hit all the time,” Nicholls coach Mike Silva said.

After playing small ball for most of the inning, the Colonels came up with the proverbial three-run home run by first baseman Edgar Alvarez, giving Nicholls a 7-0 lead.

“With two strikes trying to battle, just trying to see a pitch up and he just left a left a curve ball over the plate, just hit it out there to the cove and gave our team a chance to win,” Alvarez said of his home run.

Another run in the third inning gave Nicholls an 8-0 lead before scoring two runs in the fourth inning on a two-run double down the third base line by Aaron Biediger.

Nicholls added three more runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings.

The Colonels scored one run in the sixth on a wild pitch and two more on a throwing error by the Pioneers shortstop.

Nicholls added its final three runs on a two-run double by Alvarez and a run-scoring single by Cade Crosby.

Because Mayers didn’t go the requisite five innings, Devin Desandro (1-0), the second of three pitchers, picked up the win for Nicholls. He allowed no runs on no hits and no walks, while striking out six.

Sacred Heart starter Jake Babuschak, the first of four pitchers used by the Pioneers, suffered the loss. He allowed seven runs, six earned, on six hits, while striking out two in two innings of work.

The Pioneers (0-1), looked like a team from the North playing its opener as part of a southern swing to begin the season. Sacred Heart batters were limited to one hit and the Pioneers committed seven errors.

The game could have been called after seven innings because of the 10-run rule, but with unsure weather over the weekend, plus with it being the season opener, playing the full nine innings allowed numerous players did in some early-season work.

“The coaches talked before the game. Their coaching staff does a tremendous job. They’re great men, great leaders. They need to play, and we need to play,” Silva said. You don’t want the score to get that out of hand. They’re a lot better baseball team than that. They’ll be better throughout the weekend.

“We needed to play. I need to get guys in. He needed to get guys experience and exposure. It was just nice to be back on the field again.”

The series continues when the teams meet at 6 p.m. on Saturday and concludes with a game scheduled for noon on Sunday.