The Nicholls State University baseball team is determined to get back on track this weekend against Houston Baptist University after a series loss to McNeese State University.

The Colonels got off to a rocky start in game one against the Cowboys and came back with a dominant 13-1 win in game two last Saturday. In the series finale, Nicholls had a chance to take the series, but lost in extra innings on a walk-off solo homerun. Head Coach Seth Thibodeaux thinks that this loss will only make the team better.

“We started out with a bang Sunday and we didn’t finish. That happens in college baseball and unfortunately we are on a side that we are not accustomed to,” Thibodeaux said. “It is hard to win on the road at this level, but we have to bounce right back. You can either make it better or you can linger on it. Our guys were really frustrated about it and it can certainly make us better.”

Senior outfielder Justin Smith believes the Colonels could have done more in the series.

“We let them have it early Friday night and we didn’t really fight back. Looking back, we could have done more. We could have won two games out of the series because we had the Sunday game until the very end. We just have to do better,” Smith said.

The Dirty Red will face Houston Baptist at home this weekend. The Huskies are 12-9 in conference play and are 10-6 on the road. HBU is ranked sixth and the Colonels follow at seventh place in the Southland Conference. As the season’s end is vastly approaching, standings are becoming more important. Thibodeaux thinks the Colonels have an upper hand on talent, but in this league that doesn’t matter.

“Houston Baptist is very competitive and they don’t give you anything. They are not overly talented, but that doesn’t matter because they have won a lot of games. They play well together and are well coached. I feel like us being at home and having better players really doesn’t matter at this level,” Thibodeaux said. “They have a better record than us and we have to do what we can to make sure we win this series so we can jump them in the standings.”
Senior left-handed pitcher Stuart Holmes thinks a win over the Huskies Friday night will give Nicholls momentum that he hopes will carry them the rest of the weekend.

“We would love to get off to a great start on Friday and be able to carry that momentum in to the rest of the weekend. We just have to continue to pitch and make those big plays defensively, as well as a few more timely hits, then we will be fine,” Holmes said.

Nicholls has nine conference games left before the Southland Conference Tournament begins May 20. Thibodeaux said taking care of business this weekend is the only goal on their minds.

“We only have nine conference games left so we have to take care of business. If we want big things, we are going to have to jump Houston Baptist in the standings,” Thibodeaux said. “That is the goal of the week, to make sure we take care of business this weekend.”