SUGAR LAND, Texas – The No. 3 Nicholls State University baseball team heads to the Southland Conference Tournament to face No. 6 Central Arkansas at 9 a.m. on Wednesday at Constellation Field, live on ESPN3.
 
The Colonels (34-17-1, 18-11 SLC) are one of the hottest teams in the country, winning 10 of their last 11 games after splitting with Northwestern State over the weekend. The Bears (27-22, 16-14 SLC) are 4-7 over the same stretch, but are coming off of a 2-1 series win over McNeese State.
 
Nicholls is set to start left-hander Grant Borne (6-4). Borne recently was named Second Team All-Conference after posting a 1.49 ERA with 77 strikeouts through 84 1/3 innings in the regular season. He earned a win over Central Arkansas back on April 11, allowing three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts through eight innings on the mound.
 
The Bears will counter with righty Connor Gilmore (7-3). Gilmore boasts a solid ERA of 2.34 with 55 strikeouts in 100 innings on the hill. Gilmore was dominant in a 7-0 complete-game shutout of the Colonels on April 10. He surrendered only four hits while fanning four batters in the win.
 
Newcomer of the Year and First-Team Third Baseman Kyle Reese spearheads the Nicholls offense. He ranks first in the league in batting average (.369), slugging percentage (.520) and doubles (19), with 34 runs scored and 30 RBIs this season. Justin Holt leads the Colonels in runs with 36.
 
Left Fielder Wesley Hoover earned a Third-Team nod from the Southland and paces the Bears offense with a .365 batting average. Outfielder Tyler Langley has team-highs in runs score (38), RBIs (30) and home runs (5). Langley also garnered Third-Team All-Southland honors.
 
Last season Nicholls entered the postseason as the No. 2 seed. The squad was leading the nation in double plays turned and owned the top pitching staff in the league. It's been 362 days since the Colonels left Conway, Ark. in disappointment, but the team vowed to make a return appearance and right the wrongs of the previous year.
 
This time around Nicholls is the No. 3 seed and boast the Southland's top pitching staff for a second-straight season. The Colonels have had a record-setting year, matching marks set by some of the most storied teams of the programs' past. Nicholls recently went on a nine-game tear that was the longest winning-streak since 2005. The Colonels swept their season series against Louisiana-Lafayette for the first time since 1996 and downed the now No. 1 LSU tigers at Alex Box Stadium earlier this year. Nicholls also turned in back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since 1992-93.
 
The Colonels have also garnered unprecedented recognition within the conference and on a national level. Stuart Holmes set the school record for saves in a season and is currently second in the nation with 15 saves in 2015. He was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team and became the first player in school history to land a spot on the prestigious NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List earlier this season. Holmes was also tabbed for the NCBHF Pitcher of the Year Watch List, alongside his teammate, Justin Sinibaldi, making Nicholls one of only three schools in the nation to place two players on the list. Tanner Vandevere was named SLC Hitter of the Week earlier this year and third baseman Kyle Reese earned Louisiana Sports Writer's Association Hitter of the Week honors twice and Southland Hitter of the Week honors once. Sinibaldi was also named SLC pitcher of the Week twice and earned LSWA Pitcher of the Week once. Most recently the Colonels claimed Southland Conference accolades for Pitcher of the Year, Relief Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and produced two First-Team, one Second-Team and two Honorable Mention All-Southland selections.
 
While fans of the Red and Gray will undoubtedly be proud of this year's accomplishments, the Colonels and the Colonel Faithful have much loftier goals. An impressive regular season is in the books and the next chapter of the 2015 Nicholls baseball team begins on Wednesday morning.
 
Every game of the 2015 Tournament will be carried live by ESPN3. The event runs May 20-23 at Constellation Field, home of the Atlantic League's Sugar Land Skeeters. KTIB 640 AM will also broadcast each Colonel baseball game live.
 
Visit geauxcolonels.com for live stats, video and the most up-to-date information on Nicholls baseball.