After going 1-2 in a round robin with LSU and Brown University last weekend, the Colonels find themselves in the midst of a competitive preconference schedule.
“Our days are here, and we are rolling right on through,” head coach Seth Thibodeaux said. “The guys are adjusting well to the schedule.”
Before heading to Baton Rouge, the team understood the hype surrounding the LSU game.
“There are probably going to be people from Nicholls wearing LSU stuff,” junior pitcher Jordan McCoy said.
“If our players wanted to go to LSU, they would have gone to LSU,” Thibodeaux said. “That means something to the fans here. We don’t circle that game on our calendar. It doesn’t mean a damn thing to me, other than it being a game we want to win. We want to beat UL, Southern and South Alabama just as much as we want to beat LSU.”
The Colonels were unable to beat the nationally ranked Tigers in a game where neither team could get a hit in the first four innings. Junior pitcher Taylor Byrd held LSU without a hit for four innings. The Tigers broke through in the sixth, scoring two runs on four hits. The Colonels were unable to answer, falling 2-0.
Earlier Sunday, the Colonels won their second game against Brown after dropping the first the day before. Nicholls capitalized on four runs in the first two innings to win 4-1.
Heading into the weekend, the Colonels were looking to build off of a home win against Tulane. Rather caught up in their record at this point in the season, Thibodeaux’s squad is getting ready for conference play and trying to measure themselves against other Louisiana teams.
“We just want to be the best team in the state,” Thibodeaux said. “We don’t want to be in a situation where we are prepared. That is how you win championships. We are playing some good teams, and they are going to the ninth inning.”
“We know we have the ability and talent to play with everybody in the state,” McCoy said. “When we beat teams like Tulane, it definitely gives us a sense of confidence.  It gives these young guys a sense of confidence too.”
McCoy said the pitching staff has been working on bringing some variety to the pitching game outside of just speed.
“We don’t have anything that’s overpowering,” McCoy said. “We try to throw in some off speed.”
As a hitting team, the Colonels look to catch teams off guard, stealing bases and playing “hit and run,” according to McCoy.
“We take advantage of mistakes that other teams make,” McCoy said. “It gives us energy to play the way we know we can play.”
Junior second baseman Phillip Lyons has been a bright spot for the Colonels hitting so far as Thibodeaux prepares his team to make a conference run.
“It’s not a shock to anyone because Philip is a really good baseball player,” Thibodeaux said. “He had one bad game against Towson, so of course he stayed in the cages until midnight that night. The next morning when I get here for work, he is in the weight room.”
Tomorrow Nicholls begins a home series against Sacred Heart University. Baseball fans might recognize Sacred Heart’s new athletic director, former Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine.
“They’re a very good team from the northeast,” Thibodeaux said. “Not a lot of people know about them, but they are a very athletic team, a very disciplined team, and a very fundamentally sound team. They can beat anyone in the country, similar to Stony Brook last year.”
Thibodeaux made the schedule with intent to test his team with both Louisiana schools and out-of- state teams, like Sacred Heart.
“Our schedule is very tough and demanding,” Thibodeaux said. “I believe it’s the only thing that will get us where we want to be, which is competing for a championship. The harder the schedule, the better it will make us at the right time. I feel like if we don’t play a hard schedule now, it won’t prepare us for the hardest part of our season when it’s nice and hot, and we are on the road in Texas somewhere.”
 Being ranked last in the Southland preseason poll is still fresh on the team’s mind as they work through a schedule that, according to Thibodeaux, is tougher than any of their conference foes.
“Disrespectful is the word,” Thibodeaux said. “We are looking forward to playing some of the teams that we know voted us last. We are going to play with a chip on out shoulder, and we want to prove people wrong. It’s what we do. It’s who we are. You don’t want to play this team when our backs are against the wall.”