THIBODAUX – The Nicholls State University softball team returns to Southland Conference action this weekend when they visit University of Texas-Arlington for its second conference road series of the season. Saturday's doubleheader will start at 1 p.m. with Sunday's finale slated for noon.

Nicholls (8-17, 2-6 SLC) will be aiming to stay in the conference tournament race as the Colonels are currently 1.5 games out of sixth place in the standings. The top six teams will qualify for the Southland Conference Tournament.

The Colonels swung the bat well against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in their last conference outing, but struggled against the No. 25 LSU Tigers on Wednesday after finishing with only two hits in an 8-0 mercy-rule defeat.

Ashley Ray recorded both hits for the Colonels and leads the team with a .321 batting average. The native of Lafayette, La. is also tops for Nicholls in RBIs (23) and home runs (6).

In Southland play this year, the Colonel pitching staff posts a 2.92 ERA led by Ashton Bennett with a 1.27. She has won both decisions for Nicholls in conference including a complete game shutout last weekend against the Islanders.

UT-Arlington (20-12, 7-2 SLC) has won four of its last five and comes into the matchup with one of the most potent offenses in the conference. Six Mavericks are hitting over .300 led by Rebecca Collom who ranks seventh in the Southland with a .363 clip.

In the circle, Callie Collins heads the staff with a conference-leading 1.11 ERA. Collins has held batters to a .179 average while striking out 112. She has a 12-3 record on the year with 10 complete games and three shutouts.

Saturday's Southland Conference doubleheader at Allan Saxe Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.