THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team closes out another five-game week this weekend, hosting the Sacred Heart University Pioneers for a three-game series beginning on Friday night at 6:30.

The series against the Pioneers will be a little different than previous series, with the Colonels taking on SHU at 6:30 on Friday, 7 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Friday and Sunday's games will be aired on KTIB 640 AM, while Saturday's game will be available just through Colonels All-Access. Live stats will also be available throughout the weekend.

The Colonels head into the series on Friday on a bit of a slide, as the team has lost their last three games and five of their last six. Before this past weekend, Nicholls had won six of their first nine and was off to one of its best starts in the last decade before hitting the rough patch coming into this weekend.

With some pretty convincing outings early in the season, the Nicholls pitching staff has been unsteady as of late, as Nicholls has lost its last two games by a combined score of 19-13 in giving up 11 runs to South Alabama on Tuesday and six in one inning to Southern in an 8-6 loss on Wednesday. The Colonels have been outscored 21-13 in the last three games, while getting outhit 31-25.

Senior outfielder Matt Richard has been hitting well for the club, leading the team with a .351 batting average and over the course of the last five games produced ten hits, including two doubles, with five RBI and two runs scored. Richard has seven multi-hit games, including having a season-high three hits against Southern. Mike Barba has also been on a tear, currently on a six-game hitting streak with an 11-game bases-reached streak to match.

Mike Suk will get the opening start for Nicholls as he is still searching for his first win of the season three starts in. The senior right-hander has only walked four batters with 13 strikeouts. Taylor Byrd will get the go on Saturday after limiting LSU to just two runs last weekend, while Kory Delange will try and keep his win streak going after fanning 11 Brown batters last Sunday.

Sacred Heart is the two-time defending Northeast Conference Champions, but is 0-5 on the year as the Pioneers complete their ten-day Louisiana tour this weekend. Beginning their season last weekend, the Pioneers got swept by Louisiana-Lafayette, before midweek round robin losses to LSU and Stephen F. Austin. SHU is hitting .217 as a team, with a staff ERA of 4.87.