THIBODAUX - After a hard-fought weekend series at the home of the Southland Conference's first place team, the Nicholls State University baseball team (8-14) returns home for a seven-game stretch beginning with the Colonels' second annual visit to Southland Field in Houma for a 6 p.m. first pitch against Loyola-New Orleans (10-24) on Tuesday night.

The Colonels are coming off a hard-fought series at Stephen F. Austin over the weekend.  Nicholls claimed the opening game of the series on Friday night to hand the first place Lumberjacks their first Southland Conference loss of the season, the Colonels dropped a pair of close decisions to the league leaders on Saturday and Sunday.

Nicholls will try to get back on track in front of a friendly crowd at Southland Field on Houma against the Wolfpack.  Tuesday night's contest will mark the Colonels' second annual trip to Southland Field after Nicholls hosted in-state rival Southern on March 30, 2010 in front of the largest crowd for a Nicholls baseball game that season.

"The atmosphere in Houma last season was amazing, and the people that hosted us did an amazing job," head coach Seth Thibodeaux said.  "It was a no-brainer to do it again this year.  We've been looking forward to this game for a while, and we really want to play well for all our fans in Houma.  This is an important opportunity for our program.  Taking our team around the area is going to be a big part of our efforts to reach out to the community and help build more support for our program."

Tuesday's contest at Southland Field is the first of two home games on this homestand that the Colonels will be moving from Thibodaux.  After returning to Nicholls to host Alcorn State on Wednesday night, the Colonels will host Texas-Arlington at Ray E. Didier Field for a three-game Southland Conference series beginning on Friday night.

After their weekend series against the league-rival Mavericks, Nicholls will turn its attention to hosting Southern at Acadian Ballpark in New Iberia, La. on April 5 before returning home to host the University of New Orleans on April 6 in the conclusion of the seven game homestand.

First pitch for Tuesday's game in Houma is set for 6 p.m.  Live stats and streaming audio play-by-play will be available on the baseball schedule page of www.geauxcolonels.com and at www.ThibodauxOnline.com.