CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Interstat) — Haden Luke delivered a dominant pitching performance and the Nicholls State offense erupted for 18 hits as the Colonels routed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 14-5 on Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader.

Luke, the top star for Nicholls State, set a commanding tone from the outset. The right-hander pitched five innings, allowing no hits and one unearned run while striking out nine. He faced the minimum through four innings, with the only blemish coming in the fifth when Christian SmithJohnson scored on a wild pitch after reaching on an infield single. Luke’s outing continued a strong run, following a 5 1/3-inning, one-run performance against McNeese State on March 1.

The Colonels’ bats provided more than enough support early, staking Luke to a 4-0 lead after two innings. Keegan Giger doubled and scored on a Caston Thompson groundout in the first. In the second, Hudson Mattox tripled and scored on a Jaxon Milam double. Logan Terry followed with an RBI single, and Matt Melancon doubled to drive in Terry.

The most important part of the game came in the top of the fourth inning, when Nicholls State broke the game open with a six-run outburst to take a 10-0 lead. The rally was fueled by a critical error. After Terry scored on a Melancon single and Melancon came home on a Thompson single, two Islanders errors extended the inning. With two on and two out, Greyson Shafer capitalized by launching a three-run home run to deep right field, plating two unearned runs.

Shafer finished 3 for 5 with four RBIs. Giger went 3 for 6 with a two-run homer in the ninth, driving in three. Melancon was 3 for 4 with two RBIs before being lifted for a pinch-hitter, and Terry added three hits and two RBIs.

The Islanders mounted their only significant threat in the sixth inning, chasing reliever Cole Simoneaux. They strung together four hits and two walks, scoring four runs to cut the deficit to 10-5. Max Towchik and Jack Bergstrom had RBI singles, while SmithJohnson and pinch-hitter Karson Krowka added run-scoring groundouts.

Nicholls State relievers Dalton Hill, Karson Trichel and Cole Poirrier then slammed the door, combining for four hitless innings to close out the game. Hill worked two scoreless frames with two strikeouts, Poirrier struck out two in a perfect ninth and Jabe Schlehuber was a bright spot for the Islanders’ bullpen, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts after entering in the fifth.

The Colonels added two runs in the seventh on RBI singles from Terry and Giger, and Giger’s ninth-inning blast provided the final margin.

With the win, Nicholls State improved to 9-8 overall. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fell to 8-8. The teams were scheduled to conclude the doubleheader later Saturday.