THIBODAUX, La. (February 18, 2024) – The bats woke up in a big way for the Sacred Heart University baseball team on Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Nicholls State. Unfortunately, the Pioneers could also do little to stop the home team's offense either, in what became a barnburner at Didier Field.
Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles, scored four times and drove in four as SHU plated a dozen, but still suffered a 19-12 defeat to the Colonels. Aaron Biediger was 5-for-6 with a double and three runs batted in to lead the way for Nicholls State.
The middle portion of Sunday's game turned into a bit of a roller coaster. Trailing 6-1 early on, SHU (0-3) used a six-run top of the fourth inning to jump to a 7-6 lead. A hit batter and a pair of walks set the table, which was a bit of a theme, as Nicholls State pitching combined to walk nine and hit a pair on the afternoon. Ungar capitalized on the situation, as he jumped on the second pitch and cranked a three-run double down the left-field line. Two batters later, following another walk,
Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.) delivered Sacred Heart's first home run of the season, with a three-run shot to right field.
Nicholls State (3-0) answered right away with an unearned run in the home half of the fourth to tie things up. Kaden Amundson reached at second base on a combination infield hit and throwing error, then moved to third on a passed ball. Parker Coddou chased him home with an RBI groundout.
The Colonels went back out front, 9-7, with two more in the fifth. Back-to-back singles from Drake Anderson and Basiel Williams, plus a bunt single from Narvin Booker, loaded the bases with nobody out. The two runs would later come around to score on an error.
Undaunted, the Pioneers evened things back up right away, with two of their own in the top of the sixth. Ungar singled through the left side of the infield and stole second, ahead of a walk to McGuire. Ungar would score on an RBI single to right-center field by
Dennis Gamester (West Haven, Conn.), while McGuire later scored on a sacrifice fly to center by
Peter Link (Holmes, N.Y.).
Nicholls State seized control of things for good from there though, and an eight-spot in the home half of the sixth sent the Colonels on their way to completing the weekend sweep. Erick Ordonez and Jaden Collura went back-to-back in the frame, with the former launching a three-run homer to left field and the latter following with a solo job to right.
SHU would plate three in the seventh, as Ungar provided an RBI double, and Gamester chased home two with a single to right. Ungar finished the weekend 4-for-13 with three doubles and drove in six.
Collura capped the scoring in the last of the seventh with his second homer of the day, a two-run shot to right-center.
The teams combined to send 12 pitchers to the mound and throw 393 pitches on the afternoon. On the SHU side of the ledger, five pitchers allowed 19 runs, though just 10 were earned, as the defense committed six errors and allowed a passed ball. Nicholls State saw seven arms surrender 12 runs (11 earned) on 13 hits and nine walks.
Sacred Heart is back down south next week for a three-game series at Tennessee Tech on Feb. 23-25 in Cookeville, Tenn.
