LIVE STATS

THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University softball team will look to continue its winning ways and remain in first place as the Colonels take on Abilene Christian in a three-game Southland Conference series, starting Friday at Swanner Field.
 
Friday's doubleheader is scheduled for a 4 p.m. first pitch, with Saturday's finale set for noon. On Saturday before the game, there will be a special field dedication ceremony to honor the Swanner family, which made a generous contribution for the renovations at the Colonel Softball Complex. Neal Swanner is a local community leader and the owner of Bubba's II PoBoys. The Swanners have been supporters of not only Nicholls Athletics and the University, but also the entire city of Thibodaux. For more about the Swanners and their generosity, please visit their site here.
 
In addition to the Swanner Field dedication, Saturday is the program's annual Pink Game, presented by Thibodaux Regional, which promotes breast cancer awareness. The Colonels will be wearing their special pink jerseys as part of the initiative.
 
Nicholls (24-10, 9-3 SLC) is tied for first place with Northwestern State after a month of conference play. The Colonels lost their first series of the year two weeks ago at Southeastern Louisiana but bounced back by taking two of three at home against Central Arkansas. The Colonels are 8-1 in Thibodaux this year at Swanner Field and have only lost home conference series in the last two-plus seasons.
 
The Colonels feature not only the Southland's best pitching staff, but the trio of hurlers ranks 29th in the NCAA with a 2.00 earned run average. Megan Landry earned two wins against UCA to improve to 14-5 on the year, leading the Southland with a 1.66 ERA. She is also third in opponent batting average (.222) and strikeouts (87). In the series at ACU last season, Landry earned two saves and took a no-decision in her lone start, lasting 7.2 innings in the Colonels' 5-4 loss in 10 innings.
 
Landry did not see action in the Colonels' midweek win against Southen as Alexis LaBure and Amanda Holliday teamed up for the win. LaBure is second in the NCAA with five saves and ranks seventh in the Southland with a 2.45 ERA. Holliday is fifth with a 2.33 ERA with a 4-1 record in 15 appearances.
 
Two freshmen have led Nicholls at the plate in conference play. Kelsey Miller has 13 hits for a .419 batting average while Lara has 16 for a .410 clip. Kasey Frederick has a .324 batting average in league play with a team-high nine RBIs.
 
ACU (12-18, 6-6 SLC) won its last conference series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, taking games 1 and 3 to even its Southland record. The Wildcats hosted No. 17 Baylor on Wednesday and came up short, 8-5.

The Wildcats are led by pitcher Hannah Null, who is 10-9 overall with a 2.36 ERA. Null is second in the Southland in strikeouts with 123, nearly averaging one per frame in a league-high 130 innings pitched.
 
At the plate, ACU is batting .238 overall and .252 in league play. Braegan Hamilton is hitting .333 in 12 Southland games, racking up four doubles, a triple, and four RBIs. Holly Neese and Kayla Keeling are also hitting over .300 with 11 hits each.
 
GAMEDAY INFO
 
- Admission for all softball home games is free of charge. 
- With renovations still ongoing, fans are encouraged to bring folding chairs due to the limited seating of the temporary bleachers. 
- Friday's doubleheader will feature two hamburgers for $5 at the concession stand.