Nicholson Recovers and Cajuns Explode Past USM in Series Opener

Contact: Matt Hebert

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LAFAYETTE – Jordan Nicholson settled in for five scoreless innings after Southern Miss took a lead in the first inning and the Ragin' Cajuns baseball team exploded for 11 runs over a three-inning period to pull away for a 12-5 victory in the series opener with the Golden Eagles Friday evening at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field.

After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, Nicholson scattered four hits over five scoreless frames as the Cajuns (9-5) mounted the comeback which began in the third inning when the squad batted around and posted six runs to claim the lead for good.

Louisiana sent eight batters to the plate and took advantage of a pair of USM errors in the fourth inning to add four more runs which put the game out of reach.

“One thing that this team has always done is fight,” said assistant coach Anthony Babineaux, who was filling in for head coach Tony Robichaux who was serving a one-game suspension for an ejection last Saturday at the UTSA Classic. “Tonight was a great job of persevering and staying with it after a shaky first inning.

“(Jordan) Nicholson really settled down and did an outstanding job against a pretty good Southern Miss team. We all know year in and year out they are a regional contender and can really get it done.”

With the win the Cajuns remained undefeated at “The Tigue” moving to 6-0 on the season. The squad also picked up its third straight victory in a week that features five games on the docket.

The two teams continue the weekend series on Saturday, March 10 at 2 p.m. Louisiana will start left hander Jordan Harrison (1-0, 1.93 ERA) and Southern Miss will counter with lefty Jake Drehoff (2-0, 3.86). The game is being broadcast on MyKLAF (cable channel 13, DirecTV 62).

Chris Sinclair led the Cajuns with four RBI. All but two UL batters posted a hit as the squad followed up a season-high 14 hits at McNeese with 13 against the Golden Eagles.

Matt Hicks allowed just one hit and two runs over the final three innings to close the book on the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles (8-6) opened a 3-0 lead in the first frame without a ball leaving the infield. Nicholson issued a leadoff walk to Connor Barron, hit Michael Sterling to place two aboard then a Ashley Graeter bunt single loaded the bases.

On a check swing grounder back to Nicholson, the throw to home plate wasn't in time to record the force out of Barron and USM led 1-0. The Golden Eagles tacked on two more runs on a bases loaded walk by Blake Brown and fielder's choice grounder from Dillon Day.

The Cajuns stranded five baserunners in their first two trips to the plate, but when presented with the opportunity again in the third inning they would take advantage.

A balk by USM starting pitcher Jay Myrick brought home Dylan Butler with UL's first run. After a Jace Conrad walk re-loaded the bases, Sinclair pushed a single through the right side to score two more runs to knot the score at 3-all and chase Myrick in favor of reliever Paxton King.

With runners moving on a Domincik Francia push bunt, Conrad would score from second base to give UL its first lead at 4-3. The Cajuns added two more runs on a Ryan Leonards groundout and Tyler Girouard single that rolled under the glove of Graeter at shortstop.

“We want to be a team that pushes the issue, especially when we have the lead,” Babineaux said. “We had that big six run inning, and kind of put the throttle on with some nice push bunts and a great hit-and-run by Ryan Leonards.”

Two Golden Eagles errors – a misplayed fly ball in right field and missed tag on a sacrifice bunt – after a leadoff walk issued to Chase Compton loaded the bases and set the stage for four unearned runs by UL in the fourth inning which stretched the lead to 10-3.

King forced home the first two runs with a hit by pitch on a Conrad at bat and walk issued to Sinclair. Francia rolled a grounder to shortstop and beat the throw at first to allow Tyler Frederick to score the third run of the frame. The scoring was capped off by a Leonards sacrifice fly.

BASES NOTED: Louisiana upped its all-time series lead over Southern Miss to 19-16…The Cajuns improved to 12-3 at “The Tigue” against the Golden Eagles…Jordan Nicholson, the Cajuns Saturday night starter in 2011, picked up his first Friday night win in a UL uniform…Nicholson posted his third quality start of the 2012 season, tossing six innings and allowing just three earned runs…The senior from Ruston has all three of the Cajuns' pitching staff's quality starts this season…The Cajuns scored double figures for the second straight game marking the first occurrence of back-to-back games in double digits since doing so three straight games March 20-25 of last season…Head coach Tony Robichaux is now 20 wins shy of 900 career wins (880-591-1)…Chris Sinclair's four RBI marked the most he's recorded in a Cajuns uniform…The Cajuns collected 13 hits, marking the seventh occurrence of double figure hits on the season (5-2 record)…Louisiana is now 4-0 in weekend series (swept Towson Feb. 24-26) and claimed the series opener from USM for the first time since the rivalry renewed in 2007.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Nicholson Recovers and Cajuns Explode Past USM in Series Opener

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