THIBODAUX, La. – After spending the last two weeks, eight games in all, on the road, the Nicholls State University baseball team returns home this weekend for the final home series of the year hosting the Northwestern State Demons at Ray E. Didier Field in Thibodaux.

The series will begin Friday night with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and 1 p.m. start for the finale Sunday afternoon.

It will be a full weekend for the Colonels as on Friday the team will continue its annual tradition of wearing pink jerseys in honor of cancer survivors and will be auctioning off all of the jerseys during the game with the proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Saturday will be the first-ever “Bark in the Park” where all fans in attendance are asked to bring their furry friends to the field, with prizes being awarded for the dog that closely resembles the Fifth Inning Yeti as well as an award for the dog with the most Colonel pride. Sunday will be Mom's Day at the Park as well as marking the final home game for seniors Mike Barba, Michael Baxter, Kory Delange, Cody Dufrene, Ray Eureste, Kelby Langston, Jordan McCoy, Matt Richard, Adam Seal, and Mike Suk in a Colonel uniform.

The Colonels will need to forget recent history and enter the weekend with the Demons with a conference tournament berth on the line as Nicholls enters the series against Northwestern State losers of five-straight at 23-26 on the season and 6-15 in Southland play. Still, the club is just one game behind McNeese State for eighth place in the league standings with two weekends remaining to try and make it to the conference tournament in Sugarland.

Looking to sweep Tulane in a series for the first time in over two decades, the Colonels fell into a deep hole that they almost were able to climb out of, but still fell to the Green Wave 8-7 Tuesday night in New Orleans. Nicholls outhit the Greenies 12-10 on the night, but Tulane scored in each of the first five innings to pull ahead for good and hold on late. The eight-game road swing was unkind to Nicholls as the team was just 2-6 during the stretch, dropping the club's record to 10-16 in games away from Thibodaux.

Tyler Dupantis takes his hot bat into the weekend hitting .325 on the season after his second three-hit game in the last three games. His average is ninth in the Southland, as his .342 mark in league games is also ninth. Of his 55 hits, 27 have come in Southland games and is tied for eighth.

Getting on base will be huge for the Colonels this weekend, as Matt Richard will take his .429 on base percentage in league games into the series, as his 19 stolen bases are second in the league and 11 in conference games is tied for first. Driving in Richard and others will be Cody Dufrene who is currently fourth in the Southland Conference in RBI, as he's reached base in 11 consecutive games.

One area getting another redesign is the pitching rotation for the weekend, as Kory Delange will move to the Friday spot, Taylor Byrd returning to the Saturday spot and Brandon Jackson keeping his role on Sunday.

The pitching staff will need to find the magic it did against the Cowboys a few weeks ago, as the stable of pitchers have struggled to the tune of four consecutive games with double figure hitting totals and double-digit run games in three of the last four. Since Jackson's complete game shutout of McNeese State in the finale on April 21, the Colonels have given up five or more runs in eight-straight.

Although taught not to take any team lightly no matter the record, the Demons have had a tough year under first-year head coach Layne Burroughs to the tune of a 14-35 overall record and 3-18 league record.

Senior Will Watson is the only Demon hitting above .300 on the season, leading the team with 54 hits, eight doubles and 21 RBI. As a team, Northwestern State has a .243 average at the plate while teams are hitting .285 on the season.

Robert Baker, the Friday night starter, is the only pitcher with four wins on the season as the Demons sport an earned run average of 5.50 as a squad with five hurlers having four or more losses on the season.