THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University Baseball team travels to Conway, Ark., this weekend to take on the 24-8 Central Arkansas Bears at Bears Stadium in a three-game Southland Conference series.

ThibodauxOnline.com will have all three games of the series, while KTIB 640 AM in Thibodaux will broadcast just the Saturday and Sunday games. Live stats along with live video will be provided by Central Arkansas, with links provided to each on the front page of GeauxColonels.com.

The Colonels head into the pivotal three-game set against UCA with a 16-18 overall record after earning a midweek win over South Alabama on Tuesday, 4-1. However, the team is looking to take that confidence into league play as Nicholls is 1-8 after three Southland Conference series, getting swept in its last two weekend outings.

The toughest part about the league mark is that the club has lost five games by just one run, sitting at 3-7 on the year in games decided by that margin. However, when Nicholls scores first it usually succeeds, sporting a 12-7 record when scoring first and 6-4 mark when scoring in the first inning. The Colonels scored three runs in the first inning and got another in the third in the win over the Jaguars on Tuesday.

Nicholls got a steady performance at the plate and on the mound from Brandon Jackson, who sat out early after having hand surgery and has come into his own heading into the final third of the season. Jackson earned his first win of the season after pitching 6.1 innings allowing just one run on five hits, while also backing it up at the plate with his sixth two-hit game of the season against USA. Over his last five, Jackson is hitting .450, seeing time in the infield at shortstop and third base.

Oddly enough, the person coming through at the plate in league games is freshman infielder/designated hitter Seth Stevens. Stevens is hitting .414 in Southland contests which is third among individual hitters. He has five doubles and is slugging .690 which is second behind SFA's Hunter Dozier. Overall, Keith Cormier continues to be solid at the plate, as his .330 hitting average is 11th in the conference overall, while his .378 league average is ninth.

If the Colonels are able to get more offensive production than it got last week, the Nicholls pitching staff would welcome the help as the squad boasts two of the top ten pitchers in ERA in the league in Taylor Byrd and Kory Delange. Delange has the eighth best number with a 2.63 earned run average, while Byrd is tenth with a 2.82 mark as well as ninth in the league in opponent batting holding teams to a .230 average.

Jordan McCoy earned his sixth save of the season and is one away from back-to-back seasons with seven which would be unprecedented by a Nicholls closer in the last decade. The senior currently leads the league in appearances with 20 and is third in total saves, earning 18 strikeouts since league play began.

Central Arkansas is having one of its best seasons in school history, getting wins over major conference opponents en route to one of its best starts as a Division I program. The Bears earned wins over then No-3 ranked Mississippi State and No. 18 Oklahoma State, Kansas and Wichita State to name a few. Just this past Wednesday, the Bears made a lot of news after drubbing Grambling 30-0 in Conway to the tune of 27 hits.

However, the Bears have stumbled when getting to league play to own a 4-5 record in a three-way tie for sixth. Among those big wins was a sweep at the hands of Oral Roberts with a pair of 2-1 series wins over Lamar and Northwestern State.

UCA is led at the plate by senior outfielder Forrestt Allday, who is 30th in the nation in average with a .405 average. The player to watch out for senior catcher Michael Marietta, who in that game against Grambling, set or tied numerous school records with his 7-for-7 performance with three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI.

While having the third best hitting team in the league, Central Arkansas has the best pitching staff in the conference with a 2.28 team ERA. Likely game one starter Caleb McClanahan has the best ERA at 1.76, while game two starter Jeffery Enloe has the most wins for any pitcher and is second with a 2.20 mark. Not to be outdone is Sunday starter Bryce Biggerstaff, who earlier this year threw the second no-hitter in team history in a 13-0 win over Jackson State and earned national player of the week honors from Louisville Slugger.

The Bears own the advantage in all-time meetings against Nicholls 12-6, improving that number after sweeping Nicholls last year. UCA outscored the Colonels 30-8 during the set, run-ruling Nicholls in the first game before a comeback win in the second and shutout in the third.