NATCHITOCHES – Cort Brinson will try to carry his hot streak at the plate from two midweek games into an early battle for first place with a three-game series with Nicholls and the Northwestern State baseball team that starts on Friday at 6:30 at Brown-Stroud Field in Southland Conference action.
 
The second game of the series will be played on Satuday at 2 o'clock and the final contest will be at 1:00 on Sunday.
 
Brinson is 4-of-8 at the plate on the week against Grambling State and at Louisiana Tech, both wins for Northwestern State (16-12, 6-3 Southland Conference). He leads the team with five runs batted in and has two runs scored.  The Demons downed Grambling State 12-3 at Brown-Stroud Field on Tuesday and beat Louisiana Tech 2-1 on Wednesday.
 
Nicholls (15-16, 7-2 SLC) sits atop the conference standings, and is one game ahead of Northwestern State, McNeese State, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.  The Colonels come in after losses to Southern and Louisiana-Monroe.
 
"They can really pitch.  That's one thing that stands out when you look at their stats," said second year head coach Lane Burroughs. "They've had some low scoring games.
 
"We know they are going to run, and are an action offense," he said.  "They are similar to us and know who they are: opportunistic.  Their skill set is to run, handle the barrel and pitch the baseball.
 
The Colonels will start left-handed pitcher Taylor Bird (4-2, 1.40 earned run average) on Friday night.  He will face right-hander Adam Oller (3-0, 2.29) for the Demons.  Oller's older bother Josh (1-0. 4.61) will start for Northwestern State on Saturday.  Josh took the victory over Grambling on Tuesday.
 
Lefty Austin Tanner (0-1, 3.05) will start for the Demons on Sunday.  Grant Borne (4-1, 4.05) will be Nicholls' starter on the mound for Saturday's game, and Brandon Jackson (2-1, 1.59) will take the hill on Sunday.
 
"It's been a tough week, but we told our guys that it doesn't stop," said Burroughs.  "We're excited about where we are, but we have to continue to get better everyday."
 
Cort Brinson leads Northwestern State in hitting with a .339 batting average.   Caleb Dugas (.321) and Chase Daughdrill (.309) follow him.  Daughdrill leads the team with 24 runs batted in, and Dugas leads the team in runs scored.
 
Keith Cormier (.282) and Leo Vargas (.281) lead the Colonels in hitting.  Cormier has the team's highest RBI count at 22, and Vargas leads Nicholls in runs scored.
 
The Demons will take on Louisiana-Monroe in their next midweek contest before traveling to McNeese State to take on the Cowboys on April 11.