With four Southland Conference series remaining, the Nicholls baseball team controls their own destiny.

The Colonels (17-24, 7-11) enter the last month of the season ranked eighth in the SLC. However, each one of their series is against teams that are ahead of them in the conference standings.

The Colonels took advantage of a conference bye week by travelling to the Cornhusker State for a series with the University of Nebraska. Despite dropping two of the three games, the environment of a Big Ten Conference crowd and level of competition the Cornhuskers provided should prep Nicholls for the intensity expected in their remaining 12 conference games. Each game was played in front of a crowd of 4,800 fans or more.

Often times in baseball, the outcome of the game comes down to which team can get a hit when runners are in scoring position. In the two losses, the Colonels had chances to get that “big hit”, but did not cash in on their opportunities.

“We swung the bats fine on Friday, but didn’t do it with runners in scoring position,” Seth Thibodeaux, head coach, said. “I felt like they were a little more hungry than us on Friday, but on Saturday there was no question in our players minds that we were going to win.”

The Colonels scored seven runs on Saturday, which ended up being more than enough as starting pitcher Cole Stapler turned in a career performance. In his first complete game as a Colonel, Stapler allowed one run on seven hits, while retiring the first batter in eight of his nine innings of work.

“Nebraska is a quality team, just like the teams we will play in the following weeks,” Stapler said. “It was a tournament atmosphere.”

In the rubber match on Sunday, both teams ended the games with six hits, but the big hit eluded the Colonels once again. Nebraska hit a three-run homerun in the sixth inning to take a 4-0 lead. The Colonels had an opportunity for their big inning in the eighth, but left the bases loaded, eventually losing 4-2.

The Colonels are finally healthy as a team again, which is crucial for a team fighting for seeding in their conference tournament. Not only has Kyle Reese, an All-Conference third baseman a year ago, returned to the lineup, but also Alex Shermer is back after nearly three weeks out of the lineup due to injury.

“Now that Shermer and Reese are back, it’s time,” Thibodeaux said.

Not only do the two add experienced hitters to the Nicholls lineup, Thibodeaux said veteran players just seem to do things at the right time. For example, Shermer, in his first game back, had a two RBI double to slam the door on Nebraska in their win on Saturday.

“We’re not limping to the finish line like some teams,” Alex Tucker said. “We’re actually getting better and we will see what having depth throughout the lineup will do for us down this last stretch.”

The Colonels will begin the last leg of their season by hosting McNeese State University this weekend. The Cowboys are 9-3 in their last 12 games, including a 7-0 blasting of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

“I don’t want to be a team that’s fighting for eighth (seed),” Thibodeaux said. “I don’t think we lifted weights in August to be an eighth place team. If we win these series, we will be fourth or fifth and put ourselves in position to have a better seed.”