Coddou’s sacrifice fly gives Nicholls 6-5 win, three-game sweep at Houston Christian

It took longer than the Colonels may have liked but Nicholls earned a sweep of its three-game Southland Conference series at Houston Christian with a 6-5 win in 12 innings over the Huskies.

The score was tied 5-5 entering the 12th inning when HCU pitcher Jarek Wells hit Drake Anderson and Brayden Kuriger with pitches.

Brock Shoffner was brought in to pitch in place of Wells. The first batter he faced, Kaden Amundson, executed a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners.

A sacrifice fly by Parker Coddou put the Colonels on top 6-5.

In the bottom of the 12th inning, Nicholls pitcher Dylan Farley got Ty Hodge and William Jewell to fly out. Katcher Halligan fouled out to Nicholls first baseman Edgar Alvarez, allowing the Colonels to leave Houston with a 6-5 win and a sweep.

Nicholls won the opener of the series 9-6 and took the second game 14-2 on its way to earning the sweep.

The results improved Nicholls to 10-5 in the Southland and 27-14 overall. HCU fell to 6-9 in the conference and 13-25 overall. The Colonels are undefeated at 9-0 in conference road games.

Nicholls appeared as though it might win the game an inning earlier when the Colonels scored two runs in the top of the 11th inning to take a 5-3 lead.

Like in the 12th inning, HCU pitcher Christian Diaz opened the inning by hitting Kaden Amundson, the leadoff hitter, with a pitch.

A single by Coddou and a walk by Edgar Alvarez loaded the bases.

Wells entered the game in place of Diaz. A wild pitch by Wells scored Amundson and allowed the other two runners to move up base, still with no outs in the inning.

After Aaron Biediger struck out, Garrett Felix reached base on a run-scoring fielder’s choice to extend the Nicholls lead to 5-3.

Nicholls reliever Nico Saltaformaggio struck out Jewell and got Halligan in as a pinch-hitter to fly out to open the inning, leaving the Colonels one out away from the win.

Saltaformaggio gave up a single to Luke Bard. Josh Prinner followed with his second home run of the game. This one, a shot to left field, sent the game to the 12th inning.

Nicholls scored first with two runs in the third inning.

Anderson started things off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Narvin Booker. A triple by Jaden Collura scored Anderson. A wild pitch by HCU starter Rye Gunter allowed Collura for a 2-0 Nicholls lead.

Nicholls extended its lead to 3-0 on a leadoff home run by Cade Crosby in the top of the fifth inning.

A pair of home runs by the Huskies in the bottom half of the fifth on a two-out solo home run by Parker Edwards and a two-run shot by Pinner tied the game 3-3.

Farley (3-2), the last of eight pitchers used by Nicholls, picked up the win. He retired all four batters he faced in 1 1/3 innings.

Nicholls 9, Houston Christian 6: With the Colonels trailing 6-4, Basiel Williams hit a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning to power Nicholls in the second game of the series.

The bases were again loaded in the ninth inning with Nicholls leading 8-6 when Williams reached base safely on an error while driving in a run to give him five RBI in the game.

HCU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-clearing double down the left field line by Tyler LaRue after Nicholls starter Jack Nelson walked the first three batters of the game.

Nicholls took the lead with four runs in the fifth inning.

The Colonels scored their runs on a run-scoring ground out by Crosby, a sacrifice fly by Anderson, a solo home run by Biediger, and an RBI-triple by Coddou.

HCU regained the lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth on run-scoring singles by Hodge and Halligan, along with a run on an error on a failed pickoff attempt.

Devin Desandro (4-3), the third of four Nicholls pitchers got the win. He allowed two hits and one walk in two innings.

Nico Saltaformaggio tossed two scoreless innings to end the game to earn his first save of the year.

Nicholas Willard (2-4), the third of four Huskies pitchers, suffered the loss. He failed to get an out, allowing two runs in the eighth inning.

Nicholls 14, Houston Christian 2: Williams started the scoring for Nicholls with a three-run double in the first inning and closed it out with a two-run home run in the seventh as the Colonels cruised to the win in the opening game of the series on Friday.

Nicholls scored in every inning in a game that ended after seven innings due to the run rule.

Williams staked Nicholls to the early lead with his bases-loaded double to right field.

It was part of a Colonels attack that produced 14 runs and 13 hits and took advantage of five HCU errors.

HCU starter Ethan Coronel lasted only one-third of an inning, leaving the game following Willaims’ double in favor of Baylor Baumann.

The Colonels added to their lead just as quickly in the second inning on a three-run homer by Alvarez and a run-scoring single by Crosby for a 7-0 advantage.

A run-scoring single up the middle by Coddou and Gerardo Villarreal’s sacrifice fly to left field extended the Nicholls lead to 9-0 after three innings.

HCU’s first run came in the bottom of the third on a single up the middle by Trevor Roper, scoring Lane Sparks. Sparks reached base earlier in the inning on a one-out walk by Nicholls starter Jacob Mayers.

Nicholls got the run back in the top of the fourth inning on a two-out home run to left field by Anderson, making the score 10-1.

Mayers got himself in trouble in the bottom of the fourth inning by walking the bases loaded but struck out Sparks to avoid any damage.

Nicholls gained a double-digit lead in the fifth inning. Kaden Amundson singled to left and raced all the way to third on a fielding error by the HCU left fielder. That set up a sacrifice fly by Alvarez to put the Colonels on top 11-1.

The Colonels made it 12-1 in the sixth inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Coddou.

HCU’s second run came in the bottom of the sixth on a run-scoring ground out by Bard off of Nicholls relief pitcher Chase Richter.

Mayers improved to 3-0 with the win, allowing one run on two hits in five innings.

Coronel fell to 0-3 with the loss.