Mayers-Amundson battery power Nicholls to 12-0 win over Southern

Jacob Mayers and Kaden Amundson make quite a battery.

Mayers, the sophomore righthander, cruised through much of the game against Southern University, and the one of the few times his control was shaky, there was the Nicholls catcher to bail him out in the Colonels’ 12-0 win Friday night at Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray Didier Field.

As Nicholls (9-2) held a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning, Mayers had allowed no Jaguars to reach base, including the second inning when he struck out the side.

A high chopper to shortstop for an infield hit by Tyeler Hawkins gave the Jaguars their first base runner to open the fourth inning. Mayers then walked three straight batters but no Southern runner advanced past second base in the inning.

Hawkins attempted to steal second base and was thrown out by Amundson. Mayers walked K.J. White, and he too was thrown out attempting to steal on the Nicholls catcher.

“I think I’m just doing my job putting on a clinic for the for the boys, for the guys in the dugout. Everyone’s got to do that. Everyone’s got to step up when someone is struggling. Especially for Jacob there, he needed a little bit of help and that’s what we’re there for,” said Amundson.

Mayers walked the next two batters but struck out Michael Latulas to end the threat.

“It’s great to have a catcher like that to be able to pick you up when you’re struggling. It makes it a lot easier just to refocus and get back into the game,” Mayers said.

“Kaden is a really good defensive catcher and hats off to Jacob. Jacob did a great job controlling the running game,” Nicholls coach Mike Silva said. “We talk about that a lot, moving from one moment to the next. So you walk the guy, now you gotta control the running game and give your catcher a chance. Kaden’s really good behind the plate. He’s been really good since he got here last year behind the plate.

“Those are big moments early in the game when the game is still in the balance right there. We got momentum back in our dugout. It allowed him to settle in and get us deep into the game.”

It was that kind of game for Mayers. The Jaguars (3-5) loaded the bases in the top of the sixth inning, but the Nicholls pitcher again struck out Latulas to avoid any damage.

Mayers (1-0) picked up his first win of the season, allowing no runs and two hits with five walks while striking out eight in six innings.

“The fastball and curveball were really working,” said Mayers. “I was establishing the fastball middle and then being able to throw the curveball for a strike to keep him off the fastball and being able to just mix back and forth and just keep going through the game.”

“He was really sharp,” Silva said of Mayers. “The last two innings the ball kind of started get away from him. They really weren’t huge misses, but he’s got to clean that up a little and things he can work on. We needed a really good quality start, and we needed him to get deep into the game. Our bullpen’s been taxed. This is our 11th game in the last 16 days. To give our bullpen a little bit of rest and get Nick (Fields) some work there at the end was huge for us. It’s what you need your ace to do.”

Fields pitched the seventh and final inning because of the 10-run rule. He allowed a double in his one inning of work.

Nicholls grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

With one out, Jaguars starter Ranard Grace walked Drake Anderson and hit Brayden Kuriger with a pitch. MaCrae Kendrick followed with a triple to right field to give Nicholls a 2-0 lead.

Amundson helped Mayers with more than just his defense. He came up with a sacrifice bunt following Kendrick’s single to extend the Nicholls lead to 3-0.

“We work on the short game a lot, and then it’s just going out and trusting it.  What you do in practice, you trust it, execute for the team and that’s what I did,” said Amundson.

Amundson also delivered a two-run single as part of a five-run sixth inning.

“It was a safety squeeze,” Silva said of the fourth-inning run. “He (Amundson) can really handle the bat. I was pleased in the (sixth) inning when he drove the ball back up the middle right there for two RBIs.”

“That’s just trying to put a good swing on a on a pitch and driving a couple of runs. Same thing, bases were loaded and just trying to execute and do a job for the team. I think it paid off in the long run, a couple of extra bonus runs for the team,” said Amundson.

Up 3-0, Nicholls added a run in the third inning. With Edgar Alvarez on third base and two out, Basiel Williams was called out on a close play at first base. A review overturned the call, with Alvarez ruled safe, allowing Williams to score.

Nicholls added three more runs in the fifth inning on a run-scoring single up the middle by Alvarez and a two-run home run to left field by Aaron Biediger to make the score 7-0.

Along with Amundson’s two-run single in the bottom of the sixth, other runs in the inning came on a sacrifice fly by Parker Coddou, and a two-run single by Garrett Felix.

Grace (2-1) took the loss. He allowed seven runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out three in five innings.

Nicholls and Southern meet again at 6 p.m. Saturday in Thibodaux and face off at 1 p.m. Sunday in Baton Rouge.

Prior to Friday’s contest, the Colonels played two games earlier in the week:

Nicholls 6, Southern Mississippi 5: The Colonels scored three runs in the top of the 10th to beat the Golden Eagles in extra innings Tuesday night at Shuckers Ballpark in Biloxi, Miss.

In the top of the 10th and the score tied 3-3, Cade Crosby drew a walk from new USM pitcher McCarty English and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Amundson. Coddou followed with a single to center, scoring Crosby while Parker advanced to second on the throw to give Nicholls a 4-3 lead.

After Alvarez was intentionally walked, Biediger flied out to advance both runners. Felix was hit by a pitch and J.B. Middleton was brought in to replace English.

Williams greeted Middleton with a double to left field, giving the Colonels a 6-3 lead.

The Golden Eagles rallied in the bottom half of the inning

Singles by Slade Wilks and Carson Paetow, along with a walk issued to Davis Gillespie loaded the bases with no outs and chased Nicholls pitcher Nico Saltaformaggio, who was relieved by Gavin Galy.

After Galy struck out Tucker Stockman, a run-scoring single by Dalton McIntyre and an RBI ground out by Gabe Broadus pulled USM to within one run.

Michael Guerrero was brought in to pitch for Nicholls. He got Seth Smith to ground out as the Colonels held on for the 6-5 win.

The Colonels scored all of their runs in the fourth inning.

With runners on the corners and one out, a balk allowed the first run of the game to score. A two-run single to right by Crosby gave Nicholls a 3-0 lead.

USM scored one run in the sixth and two in the seventh to eventually force extra innings.

Saltaformaggio (3-0), the third of five pitchers, got the win for Nicholls. He allowed two runs on three hits and one walk, while striking out one in 2 1/3 innings.

By getting the final out of the game, Guerrero picked up his first save of the year.

Landen Payne, the fifth of seven pitchers used by the Golden Eagles, suffered the loss. He allowed one run on one hit and one error, while striking out one in one inning of work.

South Alabama 11, Nicholls 10: A second consecutive extra-inning game provided different results for the Colonels in their loss in Mobile on Wednesday night.

With the score tied 8-8 heading into extra innings, the Colonels (8-2) scored twice in the top of the 10th but yielded three runs in the bottom half to snap a five-game winning streak.

A run-scoring double by Alvarez and a bases-loaded walk issued to Drake Anderson gave Nicholls a 10-8 lead.

In the bottom half of the 10th inning, a two-run single by J.G. Bell tied the game. With two runners on base and one out, Brennan Holt was intentionally walked. Ethan Melton struck out swinging, but a wild pitch on the play allowed Bell to score the winning run.

Nicholls trailed 6-1 before rallying for five runs on five hits in the sixth inning.

Playing with runners on first and third for most of the inning, consecutive hits by Alvarez, Kuriger, Jayden Kay, and Williams all drove in one run apiece to make the score 6-5.

A sacrifice bunt on a safety squeeze by Villareal allowed Kay to score from third with the tying run.

Nicholls added single runs in the top of the eighth and ninth inning before the Jaguars (8-1) came up with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.

Auturo Rodriguez (0-1), the last of 10 pitchers used by Nicholls in the game, suffered the loss. He allowed one run on one hit and two walks, while strike out one in two-thirds of an inning.