Baseball: Nicholson’s Complete Game Shuts Down Warhawks in SBC Opener

MONROE – Jordan Nicholson tossed the first nine-inning shutout by a Cajuns pitcher in Sun Belt Conference play in nearly two years as he out-dueled former teammate Randy Zeigler in a 5-0 win for the Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team over La.-Monroe in the 2012 SBC opener Friday evening at Warhawk Field.

Nicholson averaged a shade above 12 pitches per inning and the middle three frames was the only time the Warhawks managed to get traffic on the basepath. He finished off La.-Monroe (12-7, 0-1 Sun Belt) with ease, retiring the side in order in the final three innings.

Zeigler kept the Warhawks in the game for the 7 2/3 innings that he pitched, holding the Cajuns (11-7, 1-0 Sun Belt) to two runs until a pair of two-out errors in the eighth inning led to three unearned runs.

Both Nicholson and Zeigler were teammates at LSU in 2009, and then both transferred following that season leading them to their current teams. Friday night marked the first time they opposed each other on the mound.

Nicholson became the first Cajuns pitcher to toss a nine-inning, complete game shutout in conference play since Zach Osborne fired a one-hit shutout at Troy on April 9, 2010 at “The Tigue”. The performance marked his first complete game shutout in a UL uniform.

For the Cajuns, Nicholson’s finest performance of the season couldn’t have come at a better moment.

“We were able to do the things we needed to do when facing a good arm like (Randy) Zeigler is. He showed tonight why he’s a good arm…he gave his team everything he had and gave them a chance to win,” head coach Tony Robichaux said. “We felt that the only way to beat him was to match him. Jordan (Nicholson) was able to do that and we played solid defense behind him.

“We picked up critical hits and critical times in the ball game and that’s what this game is about, to try to be good when it matters and tonight we were good when it mattered.”

The two teams continue the Sun Belt-opening series on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Cajuns will start left-hander Chris Griffitt (3-1, 3.45 ERA) while the Warhawks counter with righty and former UNO pitcher Andrew Richardson (0-1, 4.76 ERA).

Louisiana was able to give Nicholson extra cushion for his final two innings on the mound when a two-out error in the eighth inning by Warhawks shortstop Jeremy Sy opened the floodgates.

Chase Compton reached on the error and Zeigler issued a walk to Tyler Frederick. Daniel Nichols singled off of reliever Shelby Aulds to plate Compton and on the very next play Caleb Clowers booted a Jace Conrad grounder to second base allowing Frederick and Nichols to score increasing the lead to 5-0.

Nicholson posted his fourth quality start of the 2012 season and 11^th as a Cajun. He allowed only four hits and struck out six in his nine innings of work.

True freshman Dylan Butler extended his hitting streak to nine games when he clubbed his team-leading fifth home run in the sixth inning.

Zeigler was tagged with his third loss of the season, charged with four runs (two earned) over 7 2/3 innings. He entered the night as the Sun Belt’s leader in strikeouts with 36 over four starts, but only managed three off the Cajuns hitters.

The Cajuns are now one win away from posting a series victory at Warhawk Field for the third straight season.

The Cajuns put traffic aboard off of Zeigler in the first two innings and reaped benefits with two-out magic in the second frame.

Conrad started the rally with a single to center field. Zeigler then walked Jordan Bourque to put Conrad in scoring position. Chris Sinclair followed with a single into left field and Conrad slid in ahead of the relay throw for the game’s first run.

Nicholson held the Warhawks hitless through the first three innings, averaging right around 10 pitches per frame.

He kept the shutout intact after La.-Monroe registered back-to-back, one-out hits in the fourth, notching a fly out and strikeout. In the fifth inning, Sinclair caught Judd Edwards attempting to steal to erase a leadoff single and Nicholson fanned Logan Fiasco to end the frame.

Zeigler kept pace with Nicholson by retiring nine straight Cajuns hitters from the third through fifth inning.

Butler’s leadoff home run over the left field wall at the start of the sixth inning broke Zeigler’s string of consecutive retired and provided the Cajuns a two-run lead over the Warhawks.

A fielding error by Edwards to start the seventh inning didn’t hurt the Warhawks as Zeigler retired the next three Cajuns hitters. The hosts weren’t as fortunate in the eighth inning as a pair of two-out errors allowed the Cajuns to pull away.

BASES NOTED: Friday’s game marked the start of Louisiana’s 21^st season of competition in the Sun Belt Conference…The Cajuns’ all-time SBC mark is now 334-193 (.634)…Head coach Tony Robichaux is now 18 wins shy of 900 career wins (presently 882-593-1 in his 26^th season as a Division I head coach)…Louisiana improved to 11-8 vs. La.-Monroe in SBC contests (9-4 at Warhawk Field)…Dylan Butler has posted at least one RBI in eight of the last nine games, a streak which has upped his team-leading RBI total to 22…The Cajuns posted a win in a weekend series opener for the third time in as many tries this season…UL is now 8-1 in night games…Chris Sinclair has caught as many baserunners attempting to steal (9) as have been successful (11) against the former Warhawk…Sincalir, a West Monroe native, started his collegiate career at La.-Monroe in 2009…Jordan Nicholson has pitched at least six innings in four of his five starts this season…Nicholson picked up his second complete game as a Cajun, the other coming last May 7 at Troy in a 17-1 UL triumph…Louisiana avenged a Sun Belt-opening loss suffered to the Warhawks last March 18 at “The Tigue”…The win extends the Cajuns streak of consecutive Sun Belt series without being swept by the opposition to 24 straight (dates back to April 2009)…UL is 46-24 in SBC play during the streak.

— Ragin’ Cajuns —

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