The Nicholls State softball team continues to struggle on the diamond.

With the Colonels now 9-25, they hold one of the worst regular season records in the Southland Conference, and first year head coach Angel Santiago knows it is all about learning and gaining experience.

“It’s a big learning process,” Santiago said. “They have done more things in a season of preparation for this thing, and it’s tough because they haven’t really seen the full result of their hard work yet.”

After getting swept by Central Arkansas this past weekend, the Colonels remain to be seventh in the conference, and if the season ended today, they would make the tournament.

Though they hold one of the worst regular season records in the Southland Conference, they hold the seventh best conference record with 4-6.

In the last seven years in conference, a .500 team has made the Southland Conference Tournament. With plenty of games left in conference, Nicholls’ chances of making the tournament are high.

Santiago preached to his team that now is the time to make the run, and now is the time to let their actions do the talking.

“I told them to do the maximum and win every single game, and then you’ll have a shot at a brand new season in the tournament,” Santiago said. “I think this team is taught well enough to understand that they will represent this conference well if they just finish it off. Don’t talk about it, do it.”

Following last weekend’s action, junior second baseman Ashley Bertot and senior third baseman Ashley Ray lead the team in hitting categories, and Bertot ranks second in on base percentage and batting average.

As for the team as a whole, the Colonels are third in conference in batting average with .278, fifth in slugging percentage with .383 and rank fourth in conference in on base percentage with .340.

The Colonels went through a rough patch losing eight games in a row earlier in the year, and that was when Santiago found out about his team’s character.

“The toughest thing about that time was that we got three or four run-ruled games against us,” Santiago said. “You can either accept it or you can get back to work.”

Since then, the Colonels have won four of their past 11 games. With the postseason, quickly approaching, Santiago said that it’s time for his team to “buckle down.”