Nicholls opens SLC tournament against Islanders seeking return to NCAA regionals

When Nicholls faced Texas A&M-Corpus Christi early in the Southland Conference schedule, the Colonels pounded out 41 hits and scored 31 runs in sweeping a three-game series on the road against the Islanders.

“I thought they were good. Most of the games were close,” Nicholls coach Mike Silva said of the Islanders. “We broke them open late, in the seventh inning or after.

“I think their offense is good defensively solid. They turn a lot of double plays. They can beat you with the short game.”

The games weren’t quite as easy as the numbers indicated, according to Silva.

“The kid that they’re pitching, we think they’re throwing (Zach) Garcia, we struggled against him. We didn’t get to them until he got out of the game. We got to the bullpen,” the Nicholls coach pointed out.

In Nicholls’ 11-4 win in the series finale against the Islanders, Garcia allowed no runs through four innings. He ultimately gave up four runs and the Corpus Christi bullpen allowed the rest.

“It’s a full season. I think you throw the numbers out. I don’t think it really matters what happened throughout the season. This time of year, it’s totally different. We played them so long ago; I think they’re a different team. I think we’re a different team. I’m kind of interested as everybody else to see kind of what the matchup looks like,” said Silva.

That matchup takes place when second-seeded Nicholls (34-20) faces the No. 7 Islanders (22-33) at 4 p.m. Wednesday on the opening day of the Southland Conference tournament which is being held in Hammond. The tournament continues through Saturday.

A win by Nicholls in the double-elimination tournament would advance the Colonels to take on the winner of the University of New Orleans, the No. 3 seed, and No. 6 Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. Thursday. A loss by Nicholls against the Islanders would send the Colonels to an elimination game against the loser of the UNO-Southeastern game at noon Thursday.

Garcia is 4-2 with a 4.33 earned run average. He has allowed 38 runs on 89 hits and 21 walks, with 63 strikeouts in 79 innings.

Offensively, Isaac Webb is the Islanders’ leading hitter with a .343 average. He has four home runs and 30 runs batted in. He is 19 of 27 in stolen bases.

Garrett Gruell leads the team with 10 home runs and is hitting .300 on the season. Sebastian Trinidad leads the team with 38 RBI.

The Islanders have stolen 63 bases as a team.

“We’re going to have to do a good job control the running game. I think the bottom line of this game is who’s going to keep the ball in the ballpark. That’s usually what happens this time of year,” said Silva. “When you’re playing at Southeastern, the balls fly out this time of year. I really think the games are going down the free passes – so walks, errors, hit by pitches, who can keep the yard, and limit the big innings. Whoever does this will not only win this game but win the tournament.”

Nicholls is likely to counter with sophomore Jacob Mayers on the mound.

Mayers is 4-1 on the season with a 4.55 ERA. He has allowed 32 runs on 33 hits and 71 walks, while striking out 99 in 63 1/3 innings.

Silva said he prefers to go with who he thinks is the best pitcher on that given day as opposed to having his best pitcher start the first game or maybe saving him for what could be a critical second game.

“I look at it differently. It’s the best pitcher on that day, it’s rest and health and all that stuff,” said Silva. “If Jacob’s healthy and ready to go, he’s gonna start on Wednesday.

“You want to put someone out there who can be successful and give us a chance. If he doesn’t feel 100 percent, we will start someone else, and we’ll figure it out.”

Nicholls will be without starter Michael Quevedo until the second game of the tournament. Quevedo is serving a four-game suspension for an incident against Lamar in the second-to-last series of the regular season.

Leading Nicholls offensively is first baseman Edgar Alvarez. Alvarez, who had a .417 average to go with 11 home runs and 59 runs batted in, was recently named as the SLC’s Player of the Year.

Nico Saltaformaggio was named Relief Pitcher of the Year. In 26 appearances, Saltaformaggio sports a 4.04 ERA, a 6-4 record, and two saves. He has allowed 29 runs on 68 hits and 21 walks, while striking out 62 in 64 2/3 innings.

Saltaformaggio the rest of the bullpen figure to play key roles in the tournament, according to Silva.

“It’s gonna determine if we win it or not,” Silva said. “We’ve had moments where it’s been really good and we’ve had moments where we couldn’t stop the bleeding. You gotta come in when you inherit runners. You are gonna come into a jam and inherit runners and be able to limit the damage. Not being able to put up zeroes after giving up runs, that been an issue for us. Getting off the field with two outs and two strikes, that’s been an issue for us.

“Putting up zeroes after we score has been an issue for us. That’s how you win postseason games. When we score, we’ve put up zeroes and keep momentum and then add to it.”

The third-year Nicholls coach said he feels good about the way his team is playing going into the tournament acknowledges his team has been inconsistent.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if we win it again. That’s just the truth. I would be a little surprised if we went in there and lost two in a row and we’re coming home. I just feel like we’re too good of a team to do that,” said Silva. “But man, this team, there’s games that we lose that you just scratch your head, and then we go on these runs where we’re really, really good. But we also have had runs where we’ve played really poor.

“It’s been a unique team in regards to that, so I’m hoping that we catch fire. I do feel like we’re playing pretty well right now. Hopefully, we’re on one of those runs or we’re fixing to get steaming hot and make a deep postseason run.”