THIBODAUX, La. – After closing the book on March on Saturday, the Nicholls State University baseball team will open the April slate on Tuesday night taking on the Tulane Green Wave at 6:30 p.m. in Turchin Stadium in New Orleans.

The Colonels (14-15) will be looking to start the new month fresh after finishing March with a mark of 8-12, including a tough opening to Southland Conference play. Grant Borne will likely get his fifth start of the season tomorrow night, and will take his 1-0 season mark against Tulane's Daniel Rankin, who is also 1-0 on the season.

Sitting under .500 for the second time this season, the Colonels have been fighting though tough calls, tough breaks and even tougher opponents, as the team is just 1-5 in SLC play after the first two weekends of the season. Nicholls got swept by conference opponent for the first time this season dropping all three games to Southeastern Louisiana over the weekend, with the last instance of a sweep coming last season against Central Arkansas.

Whether it's going up by a big before losing the lead late, or not getting that timely hit, the Colonels have had their fair share of adversity through the season. The team had a five-run lead evaporate in the series opener last Thursday, and dropped its fourth extra-inning game of the season in a close 3-2 loss in 13 innings last Friday. On Sunday, trailing by six, Nicholls scored eight runs over the final four innings and stranded 16 runners in a 10-9 finale loss.

Offensively, the Colonels outhit the Lions in two of the three games, earning double-digit hits in each of the last six games. However, Nicholls is just 1-5 in those games and just 5-5 in its last ten overall. The difference has come on the mound and defensively for the team, as the pitching staff that once had an ERA under 3.00 is now up to 4.02, as the club has had ten errors in its last seven contests for a fielding percentage of .962.

With a .282 batting average, Nicholls is in the top half of the league statistically, getting its production from the top of the lineup in Philip Lyons and Matt Richard. Richard leads the team with a .331 average and is fourth in the conference in hits with 39. Lyons is on a 12-game hitting streak entering the week, and has reached base safely in his last 16 which are both individual season-high marks for the team. The two are also tied for second in the league in stolen bases with 11, as the two combined to steal three bases last week.

Although the pitching staff has had its struggles as of late, the individual work by the starters as some relievers are still some of the best in the league. Kory Delange has the tenth best ERA in the conference at 2.24, while Mike Suk's average of 6.67 innings pitched per start in ninth, sitting seventh in strikeouts with 40 where Byrd checks in tenth with his 39. Reliever Jordan McCoy is currently tops in the conference with 16 appearances, and is second in saves with five.

The Green Wave dropped its Conference USA series to Rice over the weekend and is an even 15-15 on the season. Nicholls won the first game against Tulane in dramatic fashion, taking a 6-5 win at home to snap a long losing skid. This is the first of two games against Tulane in New Orleans, with the last game coming in May back at Turchin Stadium.