THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team returns home after a successful two weeks on the road to host first-place and defending champion McNeese for a three-game series, starting Friday night at 6 p.m. at the Colonel Softball Complex.
 
GAMEDAY INFO
Nicholls (26-13, 12-3 SLC) vs. McNeese (28-13, 14-1 SLC)
Thibodaux, Louisiana – Colonel Softball Complex
Friday, April 14 – 6 p.m.      
Saturday, April 15 – 12 p.m. 
Saturday, April 15 – 2 p.m.
Live Stats
 
FIRST PITCH
- After winning two of the three games at Abilene Christian last weekend, Nicholls heads into the series with McNeese in a tie for second place with ACU at 12-3. The Colonels and the Wildcats trail McNeese in the standings by 2.0 games. 
- Despite going 21-5 in league play last season, the Colonels finished behind McNeese which won the regular season title at 23-4. The Cowgirls went on to win the Southland Conference Tournament as well. 
- The Colonels will be looking to continue their dominance at home where they are currently 10-0 with two conference sweeps. Last season, Nicholls finished with a 17-2 record at The Plex and had the SLC sweeps in Thibodaux.
 
STORYLINES
- The matchup between the Colonels and Cowgirls pits the Southland's top two offenses against each other, while Nicholls is first in earned run average (2.15) and McNeese is third (2.68). McNeese posts the SLC's best batting average at .294 and Nicholls is second at .281.
- In last season's series at McNeese, the Colonels were bested in two of the three games. Nicholls won the second game, 3-1, but lost the other two by the score of 2-0.
- Colonel leadoff hitter Samantha Mracich continues to put together a sensational freshman campaign as she heads into the series tied for first in the SLC in batting average at .397. Mracich has hit safely in all but eight games this season, leads the team with 17 multi-hit outings and is 36th in the NCAA with 52 hits.
 - Sophomore Amanda Gianelloni was named Southland Hitter of the Week after batting .711 in the Colonels' series win over ACU. The 2016 First-Team All-Southland selection currently ranks fourth in batting at .345 and is seventh in RBIs with 26. 
- Senior Jackie Johnson and sophomore Megan Landry have been the aces of the Colonel pitching staff all season long, leading Nicholls to a No. 33 ranking in the NCAA in ERA run average (2.12). Johnson is currently third in the SLC at 1.82, with Landry fifth at 2.45.
 
SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS
- McNeese is coming off a sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi where the Cowgirls outscored the Islanders, 20-2, in the series. Along with losing only one conference game so far, the Cowgirls have a significant run differential in league play at 108-21.
- McNeese is headed by two-time Southland Player of the Year and All-American Erika Piancastelli. Along with ranking third in the Southland in batting average (.345), Piancastelli is fifth in the nation with 41 walks, averaging one per game.
- Justyce McClain is hitting .420 in 33 games played, while Morgan Catron has a team-high 32 RBIs with a .345 batting average.
- McNeese has three pitchers with eight or more starts, led by Alexsandra Flores with a 9-3 record and a 1.34 ERA. Rachel Smith is 11-5 with a 2.50 ERA and LSU transfer Baylee Corbello is 5-3 with a 3.88 ERA.  
 
ON DECK
Nicholls will hit the road for spring break next week with six games in north Louisiana. The Colonels take on Mississippi Valley in a doubleheader on Tuesday and head to Ruston, Louisiana for a nonconference matchup with Louisiana Tech on Wednesday. Nicholls wraps up the trip with a three-game Southland series at Northwestern State on Friday and Saturday.