THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team returns home to face Oral Roberts in a three-game weekend series seeking to continue their streak of three straight Southland Conference victories.

The Colonels (13-13, 5-1 SLC) traveled to Mobile to face South Alabama on Tuesday night, falling in a heartbreaker, 5-4 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. The three-game home swing at Ray E. Didier field is a welcoming sight for the Colonels after playing only one home game in nearly two weeks, but the Golden Eagles (11-12, 2-4 SLC) will look to spoil the return.

With a conference-leading 215 strikeouts and 2.47 ERA, the Nicholls pitching squad has carried their team to first in the conference standings. Taylor Byrd (4-1) will take the mound Friday for the Colonels, carrying a team-leading 0.91 ERA and 42 strikeouts. Grant Borne (3-1) will get the start on Saturday, with 36 strikeouts on the season. Sunday's nod will go to Brandon Jackson (2-1), with an ERA of 1.73 and 22 strikeouts of his own.

The Golden Eagles are set to start three right-handed pitchers this weekend. Kurt Giller (1-3) is slated for a Friday start, with an ERA of 5.45 and 24 strikeouts. Guillermo Trujillo (1-1) will get the nod on Saturday, bringing a 2.63 ERA and 32 strikeouts and Gavin Glanz (1-2) will open Sunday for Oral Roberts, with an ERA of 3.38.

On the offensive side of the field, Keith Cormier leads the Colonels in batting average at .288, and hits, with 30 on the season. Leo Vargas has scored a team-leading 18 runs, while also chipping in 27 hits of his own, and Tyler Duplantis carries the team lead in RBIs with 17.

Matt Brandy leads Oral Roberts from the plate, batting .301 with 15 RBIs and 14 runs scored. Brandon Healy is second on the team with a .293 average, followed by Emmanuel Forcier at .291.

The Gold Eagles are coming off of a 3-0 win against No. 28 Oklahoma behind a complete game from pitcher Pepe Gomez, who allowed just five hits.

Nicholls and Oral Roberts begin their series at 6 p.m. on Friday at Ray E. Didier Field. Friday and Saturday's games will be broadcast on KNSU 91.5 FM, while Sunday's game will air on KTIB 640 AM.