THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University softball team will host defending regular season champion McNeese for a three-game series, starting Friday, March 20 at Swanner Field at Geo Surfaces Park.

Friday's opener is set for 6:00 PM and is the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Pinkout Game. Saturday's doubleheader is slated for 1:00 PM.

Nicholls (16-12, 4-2 SLC) won both of its Southland series to start the season, winning at home against Stephen F. Austin before taking two of three again last weekend at UIW. With a 4-2 mark, the Colonels enter the weekend in a logjam for second place as they are tied with three other teams including McNeese.

At the plate, Claire Sisco (.421) and Erin Krause (.392) rank in the Top 10 in the Southland in batting average as Nicholls ranks fifth with a .282 clip. Madison Moak ranks inside the Top 10 of the SLC with eight doubles.

Sisco also has a Southland best 21 steals on the year, helping the Colonels to a No. 6 ranking in the NCAA with 73 steals.

Molly Yoo had a save and a victory last weekend in UIW, leading Nicholls with eight wins, 84.0 innings and 59 strikeouts. Averi Paden is coming off her fourth win of the year after tossing four shutout innings in the 10-0 victory over Alcorn on Tuesday. Sierra Ouellette also had a notable performance in the circle last week, posting a 2-0 record with a 0.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 11.2 innings of work.

McNeese (20-9, 4-2 SLC) opened SLC play with a sweep of Lamar but dropped the series at Northwestern State last weekend. The Cowgirls had won their last nine conference series which included a sweep of the Colonels last year in Lake Charles.

McNeese has two batters ranked in the Top 5 of the SLC in RBIs -- Nyjah Fontenot (26) and Rylee Cloud (25). In the circle, Brookelyn Taylor heads the staff with a 2.87 ERA and 50 strikeouts, posting a 7-3 record.