THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team will face conference rival University of New Orleans in a home-away-home series over the weekend, seeking to take sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
 
The Colonels (22-20, 12-6 SLC) are coming off of a dominant 13-2 mercy rule victory over Southern and have won three games in a row. The privateers (11-26, 2-16 SLC) defeated Loyola University 4-1 in their most recent action, but have lost six of their last seven games.
 
Taking the mound for Nicholls is lefty Taylor Byrd on Friday, southpaw Grant Borne on Saturday and righty Brandon Jackson on Sunday. Byrd (6-2) leads the conference in ERA at 1.27 and is second in strikeouts with 67. Borne (5-2) is second on the team in strikeouts with 55 and has a 3.02 ERA. Jackson (2-1) has a 1.57 ERA, good for second on the team and third in conference.
 
The privateers will throw righty Nick Halliday (2-5) on Friday and right-hander Alex Smith (1-6) on Sunday. Saturday's pitcher has yet to be announced. Halliday has an ERA of 3.21 while Smith's ERA is 4.88.
 
Keith Cormier leads Nicholls offensively, batting .304 with a team-high 34 RBIs. Leo Vargas leads the Colonels in runs scored with 31, and is fourth in the nation in sacrifice bunts with 14 on the year.
 
Samuel Capielano leads the privateers at the plate, hitting .335 with 21 runs scored. Hezekiah Randolph leads the team in RBIs with 27 this season.
 
Nicholls and UNO begin their home-away-home series at 6 p.m. on Friday at Ray E. Didier Field. Game two will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday in New Orleans. The final game of the series will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Ray E. Didier Field. All three games will by broadcast on KTIB 640 AM.