Nunez wastes no-hitter in opener, rebounds to take nightcap from Bishop

CHALMETTE – Three Pelican pitchers combined on the first no-hitter in the team’s history, but it was all for naught as they got no run support from their frozen offense over the 7 innings, and Bishop (AL) State Community College used small ball and home team generosity to take Game 1 of a twi-night doubleheader from Nunez Community College by a score of 5-0 on a crisp and chilly Monday evening at Suarez Stadium.

Then the offensive script flipped 180 degrees in Game 2, as redshirt freshman Kylin Broussard recorded his first collegiate mound victory with a 5-inning, 2-hit shutout, and the Nunez offense finally came alive, unleashing a 15-hit barrage over those 4.2 innings, as the Pelicans recovered nicely to register an 11-1 run-rule victory to cap off one of the strangest college baseball evenings in recent memory.

The Pelicans outhit the Wildcats 18-2 on the night, but could manage only 3 of those in the opener as they trailed just 1-0 through 5 innings, but could not get the tying run across, getting runners as far as second base only 3 times up to that point, before Bishop plated four in the top of the sixth on 4 walks, 2 hit-batters, and a sacrifice fly to stretch its lead out to 5-0. It was the only mound meltdown of the evening for either team.

GAME 1 – BISHOP ST 5 NUNEZ 0 (7 innings)

The Wildcats manufactured that 1-0 lead in the top of the first as lead-off man Rashad Robinson walked, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on AJ Anderson’s groundout.

The closest the Pelicans came to scoring was in the bottom of the first as Ben Harris opened with a line single to right and reached third with 2 outs after a wild-pickoff attempt at first, followed by Alex Roux’s groundout, but a strikeout ended the inning and the threat.

Four Bishop hurlers combined to hold Nunez to just 3 hits, all singles, while striking out five in the game and allowing only 3 free passes – 2 walks and a hit-by-pitch.

The trio of Pelican hurlers recorded ten strikeouts in the game, 9 of those being registered by hard-luck starter Andre Roux over his 5-inning stint, with Ira Austin and Eli Woodard pitching the final 2 frames. But the Pels also gave up 12 free passes – 10 walks and a pair of hit batters – which mainly accounted for the 5-run, no-hit anomaly.

Score By innings – Mon 1/29 Game 1
Bishop St – 100 004 0 – 5 0 1
Nunez – 000 000 0 – 0 3 0
Sanders, O’Dell (5), Dolce (6) and E Miller.
Adr Roux, Austin (6), Woodard (6) and Cure.
W – Sanders L – Adr Roux
SF – Robinson.

GAME 2 – NUNEZ 11 BISHOP ST 1 (5 innings)

The Pelican offense thawed out quickly in the nightcap, plating 2 runs in the bottom of the second. Matthew Cody opened with a hard-ground single into left field and then raced all the way to third on Cohen Veron’s infield single. Evan Rohlfs then followed with another ground single to left to score Cody and put Veron on second. Reggie Bergeron next sacrificed the runners up a base, but a back-pick at second base on the play resulted in the second out, after which Blake Moss drove in Veron with a screaming liner to center.

Nunez extended that lead to 5-0 in the third as Ben Harris lined a double off the yellow stripe at top of the high wall in center. Dorien Jackson then followed with a line single to right, with Harris stopping at third and Jackson moving up to second on the throw that got away in the infield. Roux next lined a single to left to plate Harris and move Jackson to third, and one out later Cody drove in Jackson on another liner to left, with Roux moving to second. Then after the runners pulled off double steal, Veron plated Roux with an RBI-groundout to second.

After Bishop scored their only run, unearned, in the top of the fourth on Robinson’s infield single followed by a pair of infield errors, the Pelican hit parade continued in the bottom half as Moss (2-for-3, RBI) and Jackson each lined singles into left around a walk to Harris to fill the sacks. Roux then followed with another hard smash into left to score both Moss and Harris. Jackson and Roux then pulled off their second double steal of the game, which was followed by Cody’s infield single to third to plate Jackson, with Roux also racing home on the subsequent throwing error at first.

Now up 9-1, the Pels dropped the curtains on the evening in the bottom-of-the-fifth as Bergeron lined a 1-out single to left and Harris drew a 2-out walk. Jackson then drove a hard ground single off the first sacker’s glove that trickled out into short right field as Bergeron came around to score, with Harris also racing around to the plate after the ball was fumbled on the retrieve in the outfield. With the score now 11-1, the game was called at this point due to the 10-run rule.

Broussard completed his memorable outing by striking out 4 while walking just two over his five innings of work.
Roux (3-for-3, 3 RBI), Cody (3-for-3, 2 RBI) and Jackson (3-for-4, RBI) all led the Pels at the plate in the nightcap.

For the night, Harris (2-for-4, 3W, 3R, 2B) reached base 5 times in 7 plate appearance.

Score By innings – Mon 1/29 Game 2
Bishop St – 000 10x x – 1 2 4
Nunez – 023 42x x – 11 15 2
Game called in 5th inning, 10-run rule
W – Broussard L – Kelley
Kelley, McCombs (3), Daniels (5) and
Shoemake. Broussard and Rohlfs.
2B – Harris, Alx Roux.

NEXT UP:
The Pelicans will next be in action this Saturday-Sunday February 3-4 with a 3-game home series at Suarez Stadium against Enterprise (AL) State Community College. First pitch for Saturday’s 9-inning single game will be 6 PM, with Sunday’s doubleheader to begin at 1PM. Nunez students, faculty, and staff will be admitted free both days with Nunez ID.