THIBODAUX -  The Nicholls State University baseball team rings in the 2011 season on Friday when the Colonels head to Ruston, La. for the four-team Louisiana Tech Classic.  The Colonels will square off against in-state rivals Grambling and Louisiana Tech as well as Southern Illinois in the season's opening weekend.

The Colonels will be embarking on their first season with Seth Thibodeaux as head coach of the program.  Thibodeaux was a major force in the rebuilding of the Nicholls baseball program under previous head coach Chip Durham, serving as an assistant coach with the Colonels for each of the previous three seasons.

Thibodeaux takes over a program that he has helped to steadily improve over the last four years. In 2010, Thibodeaux was part of a coaching staff that helped the Colonels to their first postseason appearance in ten years and their first postseason win in 12 years when Nicholls upset No. 1 seed and regular season champion Texas State with a 13-2 win over the Bobcats in the opening round of the 2010 Southland Conference Tournament in May.

Thibodeaux helped lead Nicholls to several milestone accomplishments in 2010.  The Colonels compiled a record of 27-29 in 2010, including a 15-18 Southland Conference record. Nicholls clinched its first 20-win season since going 22-31 in 2005; its first ten-win conference season since going 11-15 in the Southland in 2002; its first 25-win of the season since 2003, and its first 15-win conference season since going 15-12 in conference competition in 2000. The Colonels finished just three wins shy of their first 30-win season since 1993.

The Colonels will face a strong challenge in the season's opening weekend as Nicholls faces 2010 SWAC Tournament Champion and NCAA Regional Qualifier Grambling to open the year on Friday.  First pitch of Opening Day 2011 is set for 2 p.m. between the Colonels and Tigers in Ruston.  Saturday, the Colonels will face off against host Louisiana Tech, taking on a Bulldog squad that racked up an 18-8 record at home last season.  First pitch between Nicholls and La Tech is slated for a 6 p.m. start on Saturday.  The weekend concludes on Sunday with a Noon first pitch between the Colonels and Southern Illinois, a squad that finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference regular season race last year.

The Colonels hope a reinforced lineup and a new-look pitching staff will lead them to success in 2011.  After finishing in the top-five in the Southland Conference rankings in team ERA each of the past three seasons, Nicholls will be replacing it's entire starting rotation from 2010.  A starting staff that was led by seniors Jarret Dunnam, Tyler Minto (both graduated) and junior Clint Dempster (a 2010 draft pick of the Minnesota Twins last June) will look to a combination of Friday night starter Seth Webster, Saturday starter Patrick Shreve and Sunday starter Brian Arceneaux in the season's first weekend.

The Nicholls lineup is led by senior outfielder Bear Comer.  The Colonel leadoff man looks to pick up 2011 where 2010 left off.  Comer hit safely in each of the last nine games of 2010, 13 of his final 14, and 23 of his final 25.  The Pace, Fla. native led Nicholls and finished fifth in the Southland Conference with a .372 batting average.  Comer hit .440 against conference pitching a year ago, leading to his selection as a preseason first team all-conference selection in 2011.

Following the Colonels' season opening trip to Louisiana Tech, Nicholls will visit UL-Lafayette on Feb. 22 before returning to Thibodaux for the 2011 home opener against the Cajuns.