Nicholas, Southeast pound on Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Brice Nicholas scorched one of his home state baseball teams Wednesday as Southeast Missouri State University broke a two-game losing streak in emphatic fashion.

Nicholas, a sophomore outfielder from Scottsburg, Ind., hit two home runs and drove in seven runs as the Indians hammered Evansville 15-5.

Southeast, which had lost to Evansville 7-5 on March 13 in Cape Girardeau, improved to 14-13. The Aces fell to 10-16 as they suffered their 11th straight loss.

Nicholas had not seen much action previously this season, hitting .226 in just 31 at-bats, with no homers and one RBI. That came after last year's solid redshirt freshman season when he batted .326, with two homers and 23 RBIs.

Wednesday, he drilled a grand slam as part of a six-run second inning as the Indians broke things open early. He later added a three-run homer.

The top four batters in the Indian lineup -- Denver Stuckey, Nicholas, Zach Borowiak and Vern Hatton -- all had two hits as Southeast had 13 overall. Brian Hopkins and Clemente Bonilla both added a pair of hits.

Tim Alvarez (1-0) was the winning pitcher. The starter went the first five innings, allowing three hits, striking out six and walking one. Evansville starter Ken Smith pitched two innings and suffered the loss.

Southeast will return to action this weekend with a three-game Ohio Valley Conference home series against Tennessee-Martin. There will be a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday.