THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team will begin Southland Conference play by hosting New Orleans on Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field on March 22-24.
First pitch on Friday will be at 6:30 p.m. and the action can be streamed on ESPN+. Saturday's game will begin at 6:30 and Sunday's contest is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Nicholls (17-7) dropped a mid-week contest to LA Tech on Wednesday night while UNO (10-10) beat Jackson State 16-5 on Wednesday.
The Colonels have had success against the Privateers as they lead the series since 2008 (27-14) including a pair of victories during last year's conference tournament.
The Red & Gray offense is one of the most prolific in the nation. The unit has the third most hits (251), fourth most runs (225), and 14th most stolen bases (48). The Colonels also have the drawn the 12th most walks (140), hit the 13th most doubles (53), while posting 15th best batting average (.325). Those numbers are the best marks in the SLC.
Nicholls is led by
Edgar Alvarez who ranks sixth nationally in batting average (.481) and has tallied the fourth most hits in the country (39). He also leads the SLC in RBI (31), doubles (12) and free passes (22).
Garett Felix has been a force offensively as he has 20 RBI and 16 runs while hitting .329.
Drake Anderson and
Parker Coddou are batting .322 and .301 while combining for 47 runs and 25 RBI.
In the bullpen, starting pitchers
Jacob Mayers (3.65) and
Michael Quevedo (3.91) have combined for five wins and 57 strikeouts, while relief pitchers
Nico Saltaformaggio (4.12) and
Devin Desandro (3.98) have combined for 36 strikeouts. The Red & Gray have played stout defense and registered five shutouts.
The Privateers are led by Mitchell Samford who boasts a .395 batting average with eight doubles, two triples, five home runs, and 28 RBI. Starting pitchers Grant Edwards (4.55) and Colton Mercer (5.96) are combined 3-4 with 29 earned runs.
