The Lions baseball team (21-8, 6-0 SLC) rallied for close victories in a Southland Conference (SLC) series sweep against the Nicholls State University Colonels (14-15, 1-5 SLC).
The Lions played at Pat Kenelly Diamond on Thursday, March 28 at 6 p.m. The team played at Nicholls on Friday, March 29 and returned to Hammond for the final game of the series on Saturday, March 30.
The Lions were down 5-2 in the seventh inning of Thursday’s game when the offense rallied for a seven-run streak, turning the game around and leaving with a 9-6 win over the Colonels.
“I like this club because we can win in a lot of different ways,” said head coach Jay Artigues. “We got down by five, and we started hitting the ball really well and got back into it. We took the lead and won the game.”
At Nicholls on Friday night, the Lions and Colonels both played hard defensively but had a difficult time making runs over the course of the game. Tied at 2-2 from the seventh inning, the game at Nicholls saw four innings of free baseball play.
“Their pitcher did a great job,” said Artigues.  Ours did just as well, and he out-competed today. Our hitters kept scrapping, but we broke through there in the thirteenth inning. Today we won a pitching duel, so we’re winning in a lot of different ways.”
In the thirteenth inning senior infielder Ben Hernandez made a run for the Lions. Nicholls was unable to match the run, ending in a Lions 3-2 victory.
“It’s a good win for us,” said Artigues. “Staying 5-0 in conference, getting that twentieth win, being 20-8 right now is a great sign especially with that schedule we’ve played.”
On Saturday, the Lions scored their first run in the third inning and built up their score to 7-1 by scoring three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. The Lions’ lead increased to 10 by the eighth inning thanks to freshman Jameson Fisher’s homer to right field, freshman Kyle Cedotal’s run scored on a wild pitch and a run by junior infielder Aaron Haag.
The Colonels were nearly able to catch up in the ninth inning, scoring four runs, but ultimately they were unable to surpass the Lions. The game ended at 10-9 in favor of the Lions.
The Lions remain undefeated in SLC play (6-0). The team will be on the road for their next two conference games. The Lions will play at the University of South Alabama tonight, Wednesday, April 3.