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THIBODAUX, La. – The Southland Conference's top two teams in the standings will square off this weekend in Lake Charles as the Nicholls State University softball team travels to McNeese State for a three-game series.
 
Friday night's opener is slated for 6 p.m., with Saturday's doubleheader scheduled to begin at noon. Coverage links for all three games between the Colonels (24-12, 9-2 SLC) and Cowgirls (26-8, 11-1 SLC) can be found on geauxcolonels.com.
 
Nicholls enters the crucial series as the league's hottest team, riding an eight-game winning streak after three consecutive sweeps – two in conference against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Central Arkansas, and one midweek doubleheader over Alcorn State. Not only is the winning streak the Southland's current longest, but it also marks the longest for the program since the 1998 team won nine straight.
 
During the current hot streak, Nicholls is batting a modest .276, but the defense and pitching have been remarkable. The Colonels have only seven errors in the eight-game stretch, and the pitching staff has combined for a 1.05 ERA and a .183 opponent batting average.
 
Hannah Haydel has not allowed an earned run in her five appearances, surrendering just 13 hits in 27.2 innings. Haydel upped her record to 12-6 after tallying four wins in the streak, and leads the league in both ERA (1.35) and batting average (.182). Not to be outdone, freshman Megan Landry recorded three wins while striking out 28 batters in 26 innings, allowing just 19 hits with a 0.81 ERA. With an 11-5 record, Landry is fourth in the SLC in ERA (1.96) and sixth in batting average (.228). Landry has one more strikeout (87) than Haydel on the year as they rank third and fourth in the conference.
 
With the pitching staff being stingy all season, three runs has been the magic number for the Colonels in 2016. When the offense has produced at least three runs, Nicholls posts an impressive 21-1 record. The Colonels also have yet to lose a game when outhitting the opposition (21-0).
 
While the Colonels slid down to fifth in the Southland in batting at .288, the team continues to get hits when it matters the most. With a runner on third and less than two outs, Nicholls has come through with a hit in 12 of 15 chances during the streak. Over the last eight, Danielle Phillips has been on a terror at the plate with a .517 batting average and she now ranks ninth in the league in hitting at .374. Phillips and Haley Parkerson (.355 BA), who tallied 10 hits during the recent streak; both carry five-game hitting streaks into the series.
 
Freshman Amanda Gianelloni added nine RBIs to give her a team-high 29, good for eighth most in the league. She also ranks 12th in the SLC with a .369 batting average and is tied for fifth with 10 doubles. In addition to her impressive numbers at the plate, Gianelloni has made several highlight plays at shortstop in her inaugural campaign.
 
Unlike the Colonels, McNeese State was expected to be atop the standings as the Cowgirls were voted second in the preseason polls, while Nicholls was projected to finish outside of the six-team tournament field. The Cowgirls have done nothing to prove the voters wrong as they've dominated their way to first place in the standings at 11-1 by outscoring the opposition, 99-16. Of the 12 league games, McNeese has captured seven mercy-rule victories and four shutouts. In the non-conference, the Cowgirls claimed victories over No. 16 Baylor, No. 25 Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
 
The Cowgirl pitching staff has been equally as impressive as the Colonels', ranking second in the Southland behind Nicholls in ERA (2.18) and opponent batting average (.222). Emily Vincent posts a 9-2 record with a 1.51 ERA and is second in the league in strikeouts with 95. Jamie Allred leads the team in wins at 10-1, while also posting a sub-2 ERA at 1.82.
 
The offense is headed by reigning Southland Conference Player/Hitter/Freshman of the Year, Erika Piancastelli. A third-team All-American selection in 2015, Piancastelli has put together another outstanding season as she is first in the Southland in RBIs (34), home runs (17), walks (35), slugging (1.075) and on-base (.583) percentage, and is second in the league in batting average (.419). Piancastelli is one of three Cowgirls hitting over .350, joined by Marisa Taunton (.377) and Hailey Drew (.361).
 
The Colonels won the series over McNeese last season in Thibodaux, 2 games to 1, while the Cowgirls took the last set in Lake Charles in 2014, 2-1.