The UCA Bears baseball team hosted the Nicholls State University Colonels for a three-game series April 10-12 at Bear Stadium.
Ultimately, the Bears (18-12, 9-6 Southland Conference) dropped two of their three games after an impressive showing from junior right-hander Connor Gilmore.
Junior second baseman Chris Townsend said the team didn’t fight like it should have.
“We have to get better collectively as a unit,” he said. “That’s what it’s going to take for us to have a chance at a conference championship.”
Gilmore carried the Bears to a 7-0 shutout of the Colonels (21-14-1, 10-8) in SLC action Friday night at Bear Stadium.
Gilmore threw a four-hitter against the Colonels on Friday night, striking out four and walking just one to improve to 5-2 on the season, and dropped his ERA to an impressive 2.43.
Gilmore had an important role as starter to balance the scales against Nicholls’ pitching staff, which is ranked as one of the top in the nation.
The Bears had 13 hits and went after Nicholls senior starter Ryan Deemes, putting up 11 hits and five runs against the Colonels’ ace, who entered the game with a 4-0 record and an 0.99 ERA.
The Bears scored all the runs they needed in the first inning, getting an RBI single from Townsend and a sacrifice fly from sophomore infielder designated hitter Joey Pinney.
With Gilmore cruising along, the Bears scored two more runs in the fifth inning.
Junior infielder Matt Anderson singled and eventually scored on the wild pitch and Pinney’s double down the right field line for the 4-0 lead.
UCA was able to get another run in the sixth with junior center fielder Tyler Langley’s RBI double to the gap in right center.
Two more came across in the seventh as junior catcher Travis Hull hit a ground ball to second base that brought in Anderson and junior infielder Logan Preston.
The Colonels turned the tables on the Bears on Saturday, winning 9-3 at Bear Stadium to even the Southland Conference series at one game each Saturday night.
The Colonels were shut out 7-0 in Friday night’s opener, but rang up 16 hits against six UCA pitchers and scored in six of the first seven innings.
UCA got a leadoff home run from Langley in the first inning, but was not able to score again until the sixth inning.
The Bears put up two more runs in the sixth on a two-run double by junior designated hitter Brandon Montalvo that scored Townsend and junior outfielder Braxton Phillips.
Nicholls junior starting pitcher Grant Borne was able to hold out against the Bears, keeping them scoreless in the second through fifth, seventh and eighth innings.
Sunday opened up with the thunder of the Nicholls Colonels’ bats, who downed the Bears 5-3 in their SLC series finale at Bear Stadium.
The Colonels had 14 hits and were able to withstand a ninth-inning rally by the Bears.
UCA managed only five hits against a combination of four Nicholls pitchers. Townsend was 2-4 with a pair of RBIs.
Trailing 3-0, the Bears plated their first run in the fifth when junior third baseman Hayden Steele and Langley walked and Townsend’s single to left scored Steele.
The Colonels got three runs in the third, aided by a home run by freshman shortstop Joey Morales, and got single runs in the sixth and eighth innings.
The top three hitters in the Nicholls lineup went a combined 8 for 13.
Despite a tough weekend against the Colonels, Gilmore remains optimistic and passionate about the rest of the season.
“We came out swinging in the first game, and they came out swinging in the second and third,” Gilmore said. “Unfortunately, the ball didn’t bounce our way. The game we play consists of failure, and the Colonels failed less than we did. We are the better team, we have more talent, but baseball is baseball.”
UCA played yesterday at Arkansas State in Jonesboro. The Bears return to SLC action starting April 17 and ending April 19 at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, Louisiana.