Nicholls releases baseball schedule

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Willie W. Bonvillain
November 20, 2013
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Nicholls baseball coach Seth Thibodeaux loves to pit his program against the best teams that the country has to offer.


The Colonels’ 2014 schedule pretty clearly reflects that philosophy.

Thibodeaux unveiled Nicholls’ upcoming slate this week, a challenging 55-game trek that sends the Colonels to face some of the top programs in the Southeast.

Nicholls will tangle with Houston, LSU, UL-Lafayette, Tulane and BYU before yielding to the always-tough Southland Conference.


“We were able to schedule a lot of quality opponents again this season that are very respected in their leagues and should help us get stronger as a club as the year goes on,” Thibodeaux said.

The challenges will begin right off the bat for Nicholls in 2014. The Colonels will open their season on Feb. 14 with a three-game weekend slate with Houston – a Conference USA program that posted a 36-22 record last season and was a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament.

The opening weekend series will mark a big moment for both programs. For Nicholls, it’ll be an opportunity to defeat a top-tier team. For Houston, the weekend will mark the first games the program plays on its brand-new artificial turf playing surface, which is currently being constructed and will be ready for the first pitch of the season.


After the Houston series, Nicholls will spend the remainder of February at home. The Colonels will host Loyola on Feb 18 in a mid-week game before hosting its annual weekend round robin.

During that stretch of games, the Colonels will host Western Illinois, UL-Monroe and Southern Illinois from Feb. 20-22.

Following the round robin, Nicholls will host Tulane on Feb. 25 before opening a home-and-home four-game set with Jackson State. The Colonels will host the first two games of that pre-Southland series before traveling to Jackson for the final two games.


After the four-game slate with Jackson State, Nicholls will battle stiff opposition before the beginning of Southland play.

Nicholls will host a four-game series with BYU from March 6-8. The Friday of the series will be a doubleheader.

After tackling the Cougars, Nicholls will bus to Baton Rouge on March 11 for a mid-week tilt with LSU. The Tigers reached the College World Series last season and return a slew of their best players, including pitcher Aaron Nola.


After tangling with the Tigers, Nicholls will dive right into Southland play. Nicholls will open its conference schedule with a home series with Houston Baptist from March 14-16.

The Colonels will also host Oral Roberts, Central Arkansas, UNO, Southeastern Louisiana University and McNeese State in league play.

The season culminates on May 21 with the start of the Southland Conference Tournament.


Thibodeaux said he firmly believes the team’s tough path will have his squad ready.

“Whether its Stony Brook two years ago who went to the CWS or Towson who won the CAA last year, our players understand that we are going to schedule solid major and mid-major teams to condition us and prepare us for the Southland Conference slate,” Thibodeaux said.