THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University baseball team will travel to Hammond for bracket play in the Southland Conference Tournament, appearing as the No. 4 seed. It marks the 11th tournament appearance in program history.
 
For the second straight year, the tournament splits the eight-team field into two brackets. No. 1 Southeastern will host one side featuring Nicholls, McNeese, and HCU. No. 2 Lamar will host the other pod in Beaumont featuring UTRGV, Northwestern State, and SFA. The winners of the double-elimination brackets will advance to the championship best-of-three series next weekend for the SLC title.
 
No. 4 Nicholls (25-24, 15-13 SLC) will open the tournament against No. 5 McNeese on Thursday, May 14. First pitch from Pat Kennelly Diamond at Alumni Field is scheduled for 1 p.m. All of the SLC Tournament action will be live streamed via ESPN+.
 
The Red & Gray hosted a three-game series against the Cowboys in late February. Nicholls' offense was outscored 21-8 in the series, but the Colonels was able to win the series finale 3-2 behind stout pitching. The Colonels are 4-2 against the Cowboys in the SLC Tournament. Last time Nicholls and McNeese clashed in the post season tournament the Red & Gray cruised to a 15-1 run rule victory to help the Colonels secure their third SLC title in 2024.
 
Nicholls designated hitter Nico Rijo-Berger and catcher Logan Terry was named to the SLC's Second Team after having solid seasons at the plate.
 
Rijo-Berger spent most of the season as the designated hitter and posted a batting average of .357 which ranked second in the SLC. The Knoxville, Tennessee native totaled 56 hits including nine doubles and three home runs. He has scored 25 runs and registered 27 RBI. Rijo-Berger turned up his production in conference games as he boasts a SLC-best .374 average with 40 hits and 21 RBI.  He has 20 multi-hit games including a three-hit performance that featured the game winning hit to secure the regular season series against Lamar.
 
Terry shined in SLC action as he batted .338 in league games. as he recorded 27 hits, including five doubles and four home runs. He scored 17 times and registered 12 RBI in SLC action. Additionally, the Semmes, Alabama native ranked seventh in ops (.986) and 10th in slugging percentage (.575) in the SLC. He posted eight multi-hit games including a three-hit performance against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi where he tallied two RBI and scored three runs.
 
This season as a team, Nicholls hit .277 with 308 runs scored, 80 doubles and 47 home runs. The pitching staff posted a 5.40 ERA. Seniors Nuno Parache and Haden Luke headline the staff. Parache has an ERA of 4.53 while posting 46 strikeouts in a team high 51.2 innings of work. Luke has six victories while posting a 5.21 ERA and a team best 66 strikeouts.