THIBODAUX, La. (February 17, 2024) – A night after getting blown out in its opener, Saturday saw a much more reasonable scoreline for the Sacred Heart University baseball team at Didier Field.
Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) cranked a two-run double – his first hit as a Pioneer – but SHU also struck out 16 times en route to a 5-2 loss in the middle game of a three-game series at Nicholls State. Four Colonels pitchers combined to author a three-hitter.
Nicholls State (2-0) got things started with a run in the bottom of the first inning, as three walks in the inning hurt the Pioneers. Edgar Alvarez worked a seven-pitch walk with one out, and then Gerardo Villareal took a five-pitch walk with two outs. Jaden Collura followed with an RBI single back through the middle to open the scoring.
The Colonels doubled the lead to 2-0 with a run in the fourth, as Basiel Williams led off with a two-strike, solo home run to right field.
SHU (0-2) briefly evened the score with two runs of its own in the top half of the fifth.
Peter Link (Holmes, N.Y.) led off with a four-pitch walk and moved to second on a bunt single by
Joey Skarad (Stamford, Conn.), before a groundout put two runners in scoring position. Two batters later, Ungar provided a two-out, full-count double to right field to drive home both runs.
Nicholls State took the lead for good when it answered with a run in the home half of the fifth. It was another leadoff homer, this time from Alvarez, who clubbed his second of the season to center field.
The Colonels tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Narvin Booker was hit by a pitch leading off, and then back-to-back singles by Parker Coddou and Alvarez loaded the bases with one out. Garrett Felix brought home the first run with an RBI single to left, before a bases-loaded walk to Collura capped the scoring.
Right-hander
Elijah Foster (Plainfield, N.J.) took the ball and went two innings on 68 pitches in his collegiate debut. He allowed one run on one hit, walked four, hit a batter and struck out three. Left-hander
Owen MacDonnell (Londonderry, N.H.) threw the next four innings and suffered the loss (0-1) in relief. He allowed four runs on four hits, hit a batter and struck out four.
Left-hander Jack Nelson went four-plus innings on the hill and threw 63 pitches for Nicholls State. He surrendered a pair of runs on two hits, walked one, hit a batter and piled up eight strikeouts despite recording just 12 outs. Right-hander Nico Saltaformaggio (1-0) followed and threw the next 3.1 innings to pick up the win out of the bullpen. He did not allow a run, ceded just one hit and struck out five. Right-hander Haden Luke walked one and struck out two in the ninth to notch his first save of the year.
SHU and Nicholls State will wrap up the weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m. (EST) at Didier Field.
