The New Orleans Privateers will play their final road series of the regular season against the Nicholls Colonels, with the opener scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m., according to an April 30 announcement.
This series is significant as the Privateers aim to secure a spot in the Southland Tournament. Currently, New Orleans is three games behind eighth place, which marks the cutoff for tournament qualification. Their remaining opponents include Nicholls, currently fourth in conference standings, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, ranked ninth.
The Privateers recently lost a close game to South Alabama by a score of 4-2. The defeat ended their five-game winning streak against South Alabama. During that matchup, New Orleans led until two home runs by South Alabama in the sixth inning changed the outcome.
Individually, Miles Curley has delivered strong performances this season despite missing nearly half of it. He holds a .407 batting average with runners in scoring position and has driven in ten runs with two outs. As a leadoff batter starting an inning, Curley is hitting .417 heading into this weekend’s games.
On the pitching side, William Andrade made his third relief appearance on Wednesday night against South Alabama and has yet to allow a run over 6.2 innings pitched out of the bullpen this year while striking out eight batters and giving up only four hits. Bryson Goff is expected to start Friday’s game after recording his first quality start last week against Lamar; he struck out seven over six innings and leads both his team and sits tied for ninth overall in conference wins.
Historically, New Orleans holds a record of 99-73 against Nicholls but trails them 20-15 since joining the Southland Conference in 2014. Last season at Maestri Field, New Orleans won two out of three games versus Nicholls.
Nicholls enters this series with its conference tournament spot nearly secured as they are four games ahead of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with six left to play. The Colonels boast one of the best team ERAs (4.61) in their league; Caston Thompson ranks among top five players for OPS and home runs while Haden Luke sits within top ten for strikeouts at 55.
