THIBODAUX – Following four victories in its final homestand, the Nicholls State University softball team heads to Stephen F. Austin University to wrap up the 2011 schedule with a three-game Southland Conference series, starting on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Sunday's season finale is scheduled for 12 p.m.

Live stats for all three contests at SFA Field will be available as well as live audio courtesy of ThibodauxOnline.com.

Last weekend, Nicholls (13-36, 5-21 SLC) put itself in position to take the rubber match against Northwestern State to clinch its second straight conference series, but the Lady Demons scored all five of their runs in the seventh to win 5-2.

Stephen F. Austin took its opener last weekend versus Central Arkansas, 5-4, on a walkoff single before going on to drop its final two games of the series. The Ladyjacks lost 5-0 and 6-4 to fall to 13-34 on the year and 8-19 in Southland play.

While SFA heads into the final week with a league-worst .205 batting average, the Ladyjacks are near the top of the SLC in walks, drawing a third-best 154 on the year. Lauren Luetge leads SFA with a .279 batting average while Cadie Weaver has a team-high 19 RBIs.

The pitching staff has a collective 3.61 ERA, led by Monika Covington at 2.76. Covington has five wins on the year while Carlie Thomas, who picked up a four-hit shutout earlier this season to defeat No. 3 Texas, posts an 8-11 record in 23 appearances.

The Colonels had a strong showing in their seven home games last week as they picked up four victories. At the plate, Nicholls hit .324 on the week to put its conference average at .263, which is fourth in the SLC. Junior Ashley Ray led the way with 15 hits which included five homers and two doubles. For the season, Ray is second in the SLC with a .371 average while leading the league with 16 homers and 48 RBIs.

Also at the plate, juniors Mandy Granger and Megan Gaspard combined for 18 hits with Gaspard tallying 10 while scoring six times. She was 8-for-8 in stolen bases and ranks second in the SLC with 22. Senior Whitney Roan also chipped in with six runs and nine hits including four doubles.

All three starting pitchers had solid a week with freshman Katie Moulder picking up her first career shutout and first career save. Sophomore Ashton Bennett tossed a one-hitter against Southeastern La. to pick up her second shutout. Rounding out the pitchers, senior Carlee Winkelmann led the Colonels with two wins in 17 innings of work.

Saturday's doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. with Sunday's single-finale scheduled for noon.