THIBODAUX, La.  – The Nicholls softball team will look to remain in postseason contention as the Colonels host Central Arkansas for a three-game Southland Conference series at the Colonel Softball Complex.

The series will begin Saturday with a 2 p.m. doubleheader, with Sunday's single game scheduled for 12 p.m. A live audio feed for all three games can be listened to on ThibodauxOnline.com.

After starting 2-4 in the Southland, the Colonels (18-20, 8-7) have won six of nine conference games to take three consecutive series. The run started out at home, where Nicholls is 7-5 this season. The Colonels defeated Stephen F. Austin and Houston Baptist at home before picking up a huge series victory on the road at Southeastern La. last weekend. If the postseason started today, Nicholls would claim one of the last two spots with Central Arkansas (26-14, 7-7) a half game out.

While pitching has been a strong point for most of the season, last weekend in Hammond, the Colonel bats did the lion's share of the work. As a team, Nicholls hit an astounding .347 with 33 hits, including six doubles and a pair of triples. Freshman Haley Parkerson, who was named Southland Hitter of the Week after batting .524, led the way with seven hits, followed by senior Ashley Bertot with six. Leah Andrus and Brittany Marcet each had four hits and drove in three runs. The duo leads the team with a combined 46 RBIs, with Andrus posting a team-high 24.

Nicholls' team batting average improved to .274, ranking seventh in the conference. Bertot's average has climbed to .362, which ranks 13th in the SLC, as she has hit safely in 19 of the last 20 games. She currently holds the longest active hitting streak at seven games, followed by Parkerson with six. Marcet is second on the team in batting (.336), with Parkerson (.326) and Andrus (.323) close behind.

Against the Colonel pitching staff, Southeastern hit .337, but Nicholls was able to turn two double plays and left 27 Lady Lions stranded on base. Freshman Hannah Haydel had the best weekend, going 1-1 with a 1.56 ERA. Senior Ashton Bennett won the opener, giving up just two earned to pick up her 10th victory of the season.

Central Arkansas (26-14, 7-7) comes to Thibodaux as one of the best offensive teams, if not the best, in the league. The Sugar Bears lead the league in batting average (.310), slugging percentage (.469), runs (230), doubles (74) and are tied for third in home runs (28).  After falling to Northwestern State two games to one last weekend, UCA came back and won two mid-week games, defeating Missouri State, 2-0, and Southern Arkansas, 9-1.

UCA has three players batting over .380, led by Melissa Bryant who is fourth in the SLC at .405. Directly behind her in the conference leaders are Lissa Avitia (.388) and Sam Forrest (.384). Bryan and Forrest have combined for 25 doubles and Sarah Bigej is sixth in conference with 31 RBIs.

The Sugars Bears are led in the circle by the aptly name Kelsie Armstrong, who has tossed a league-high 175 innings in 31 appearances. Armstrong posts a 19-9 record, 1.88 ERA and has nine shutouts on the year. She leads the league in strikeouts by nearly 100 (217) and is third in opponent batting average (.203). Last season against Nicholls, she led UCA to a two-game sweep, holding the Colonels to one run in the series and struck out 11.

Following the series against UCA, Nicholls will hit the road for the next two weekends, playing at Sam Houston (April 20-21) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (April 27-28).