‍LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns strung together a well-rounded performance at Russo Park on Tuesday night, using timely hitting and a lights-out bullpen to defeat the Nicholls Colonels 6-2 and move to 20-23 on the season.

It was a true team effort for the Cajuns, who saw eight different players collect hits and got a dominant four-inning save from reliever Dylan Theut, who picked up his first win of the year after shutting the door on any hope of a Nicholls comeback. The left-hander allowed just one hit and struck out four over his outing, lowering his ERA to 2.22 in the process.

Louisiana opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when Conor Higgs launched his 13th home run of the season — a solo shot to right field that energized the home crowd of 2,814. Higgs later added a sac fly in the seventh to finish with two RBIs on the night.

Nicholls (15-26) answered in the third inning, tying the game on an RBI single by Logan Mock that scored AJ Cappell, who had reached on a single and stolen second. The Colonels briefly took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on an RBI double from Jaden Collura, but that would be the final run of the night for the visitors.

The Cajuns pulled even in the bottom of the fifth as Owen Galt singled and later scored on an RBI grounder from Maddox Mandino, aided by a throwing error. Louisiana then broke the game open in the sixth when Caleb Stellysingled, Lee Amedee was hit by a pitch, and Carson Hepworth walked to load the bases. After a fielder’s choice and a force at the plate, Jose Torres delivered the knockout blow — a bases-clearing double to right-center that brought home three runs and gave Louisiana a 5-2 lead.

Torres finished the night 3-for-4 with three RBIs, raising his season total to 28.

In the seventh, Louisiana tacked on an insurance run when Drew Markle singled and later scored on Higgs’ sac fly. Markle had a strong night at the plate, reaching base twice and playing solid defense at second.

On the mound, the Cajuns used four arms, with Tate Hess, Riley Marcotte, and Sam Ardoin combining for the first five innings. Theut entered in the sixth and allowed just one baserunner over the final four frames.

Nicholls starter Dalton Hill was tagged for two runs over 4.1 innings before giving way to Koen van’T Klooster, who suffered the loss after allowing three runs in the sixth. The Colonels were held to five hits total, with only Collura and Fisher Ingersoll tallying extra-base hits.

The Ragin’ Cajuns return to Sun Belt action this weekend, looking to build on the momentum with a critical conference series looming.