Quevedo pitching, opportunistic hitting lead Nicholls to sweep of Grambling
After sweeping a double-header against visiting Grambling State on Saturday in a game that featured runs and hits galore, Nicholls showed it could win in another fashion, taking a 5-2 win over the Tigers on Sunday afternoon on Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray Didier Field.
The Colonels (16-3) played small ball in producing their runs, while Michael Quevedo did his job on the mound. The Nicholls starter pitched 6 2/3 innings, including a perfect three innings to open the game, allowing two runs on eight hits. He issued no walks and struck out seven.
“I was just thinking about getting ahead and giving my guys a shot to compete. I got ahead early on a lot of guys and had some strikeouts. I had a really good play by Narvin Booker in the first inning, which really gave got my confidence up going into the rest of the innings and just trusting my stuff and trusting my guys behind me,” said Quevedo.
Quevedo was referring to a play in the top of the first inning in which Booker made a leaping catch while hitting the left centerfield wall to rob a Tiger batter of a potential extra-base hit.
“Michael really set the tone and then Booker made that catch in the first inning and then we’re off and he (Quevedo) settles in,” Nicholls coach Mike Silva said. “I thought he was in control all day.
“We had Devin (Desandro) down there rested for today and I thought it was really positive to see that. It’s no secret our pitching staff has been struggling. To get a quality start like that and Devin to throw the ball out of the bullpen like that, it was just outstanding.”
The initial runs of the game by Nicholls showed the Colonels’ ability to be opportunistic while playing small ball.
Nicholls scored its first three runs of the game by taking advantage of a leadoff batter reaching base by either a walk or a hit by pitch.
“You gotta take what they give you,” Silva said. “Look, we had a lot of opportunities to break the game open and we just didn’t have really good at-bats. I think fatigue probably sets in a little bit. It was a really long day yesterday after we played a lot of games in not a lot of days.
“We’ve won in a variety of ways. We’ve swept every series this point at home to start a season, and that’s really difficult to do, playing consistent baseball. It hasn’t always been pretty. It’s been sloppy at times, but the positive thing, I don’t think we played close to our best baseball yet. So I think our players.”
Booker opened the third inning via a walk issued by Grambling starter Phillip Bryant. Booker stole second and advanced to third on a ground out by Edgar Alvarez. A sacrifice fly to center field by Parker Coddou scored Booker with the game’s first run.
“Yesterday, I kind of tried to do too much. Today, I was just trying to put it in the air and deep enough to score him – just trying to do my job,” Coddou said.
Aaron Biediger led off the fourth inning with a walk. After he was out at second base when Garrett Felix hit into a fielder’s choice, Felix moved to third on a wild pitch, and Drake Anderson was hit by a pitch. A single to right center field by Basiel Williams scored Biediger to make it 2-0.
Quevedo had a perfect game going until giving up a back-to-back two-out singles in the top of the fourth inning but got out of the jam by getting Demarckus Smiley out on a called third strike.
He got in trouble a few times by giving up back-to-back singles some innings but managed to pitch his way out of them.
“A couple of hits, it’s frustrating sometimes, but just stayed in the zone and competed and got out of those innings, trusting the offense was going to give me enough and got out of those endings,” said Quevedo.
Grambling (2-12) got its first run in the top of the fifth inning.
With one out, Chris Marcellus and Jose Vargas had back-to-back singles. After Quevedo got Terry Burrell to strike out, a base hit by Tiger Borom pulled the Tigers to within 2-1.
Nicholls catcher Kade Turnage was hit by a pitch to open what would prove to be a two-run fifth inning for the Colonels. Coddou followed with a double to left, scoring Turnage to make the score 3-1.
“Same thing. I tried not to get too big, just tried to put the ball in play, make something happen. Everything fell when it happened,” said Coddou.
A pair of walks loaded the bases before Garrett Felix hit into a double play that scored Coddou, giving Nicholls a 4-0 lead.
With Nicholls leading 5-1 in the top of the seventh inning, Quevedo gave up a pair of leadoff singles. After striking out Burrell, a ground out to first base by Borom, scored a run to make it 5-2.
Quevedo (3-0) was lifted for Desandro, who got Cameron Bufford to hit a comebacker to the mound to end the inning.
Bryant (0-2) pitched five innings, allowing four runs on two hits and four walks, while striking out three.
Alvarez had a hit late in the game in two official at-bats. Not wanting the Nicholls first baseman to duplicate what he had done a day earlier in the double-header, Tiger pitcher swalked Alvarez on four pitches during his first two plate appearances.
His late hit just added to his big series total. Over the course of the two games in Saturday’s double-header, he had five hits in six official at-bats, scored four runs, hit a three-run homer, and drove in a total of 10 runs.
“There’s just a lot of confidence going on right now, just sticking with my approach, listening to the coaches, taking in information, and just really trying to execute (at-bats). Whatever happens, happens. Luckily, most of the balls were falling for me,” said Alvarez.
