HAMMOND, La. – With a regular-season championship and a host site in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament hanging in the balance, the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team travels to Thibodaux, Louisiana this weekend for a three-game conference series against Nicholls at Ray E. Didier Field.
 
Southeastern (35-13, 20-7 SLC) holds a percentage-point lead over UTRGV (22-8 SLC) heading into the final weekend of conference action. The lead is two games over McNeese (18-9 SLC) and three over HCU (17-10 SLC), Lamar and Northwestern State.
 
The Lions enter the final weekend of conference action with a magic number of two. Any combination of two SLU wins and/or McNeese losses clinches a bracket host site for Southeastern. Two Southeastern wins will clinch a share of the Southland regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the tournament. With three wins, Southeastern will be the outright regular-season champion.
 
Fans can listen to game broadcasts of the Nicholls (16-30, 9-18 SLC) series in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 The Lion. In addition, an audio stream is available online at www.LionSports.net/ListenLive and via the Lions Gameday Experience and MyTuner Radio apps. The MyTuner app is compatible with the Apple CarPlay software available in most late-model automobiles.
 
Live stats will be available in the Lions Gameday Experience app and online at www.LionSports.net. No television coverage is slated.
 
SLU is coming off a series victory over Lamar this past weekend, taking the final two games of the series to maintain their position at the top of the Southland standings.
 
Hitting .298 as a team with 76 home runs, the Lions are 10 homers shy of tying the program's single-season record established last season.
 
Southeastern also currently ranks third in the nation in ERA (3.43), shutouts (7) and double plays turned (46).
 
Dane Watts (.339, 6 HR, 33 RBI), Giovanni Licciardi (.322, 2 HR, 28 RBI), TJ Salvaggio (.315, 11 HR, 40 RBI) and Ben Robichaux (.304, 7 HR, 21 RBI) pace the SLU offense at the plate. Salvaggio enters the weekend in fourth place on SLU's career home run chart (32), one back of Jeremy Gross (1997-98).
 
Right-hander Brennan Stuprich (9-3, 2.14) draws the starting nod for the Lions on the mound in the series opener. He ranks second nationally in wins, sixth in strikeouts (102) and 10th in ERA. He will be opposed by Nicholls junior right-hander Nuno Parache (3-1, 4.37).
 
Stuprich is also climbing the program's career charts. The redshirt senior from Kenner, Louisiana is tied with Kenny Lehrmann (1976-78) for the most pitching victories (25) in program history and ranks second in both strikeouts (272) and innings pitched (311.0 IP).
 
Saturday's pitching matchup features junior right-hander Lakin Polk (4-0, 2.01) for SLU. The junior from Ponchatoula, Louisiana will counter Colonel senior right-hander Alec Sparks (4-3, 3.43).
 
Blake Lobell (6-1, 3.93), a junior right-hander from Holden, Louisiana, earns the start on the mound for Southeastern in Sunday's contest. Nicholls has not announced a starting pitcher for the series finale.
 
Carter Jenkins (.322, 1 HR, 18 RBI), Jaden Collura (.321, 1 HR, 29 RBI) and Chase Jans (.318, 3 HR, 21 RBI) are the Colonels' leading hitters.
 
Nicholls has dropped five of its last six games heading into the series.
 
UP NEXT
The top eight teams in the regular season qualify for the 2025 Southland Conference Baseball Championship. Bracket play will be held at the site of the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, May 15-18. The best-of-3 championship series will be held at the site of the highest remaining seed, May 22-24.
 
UTRGV, which wrapped up its Southland slate this past weekend, will host one of the two brackets in Edinburg, Texas.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics enforces a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. The policy mirrors the safety precautions required for entrance to professional and collegiate sporting venues throughout the country. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/Clear.
 
DIAMOND CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the baseball program are encouraged to join the Diamond Club. Lion baseball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Diamond Club and the S Club (baseball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern baseball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or by visiting www.LionUp.com.
  
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Southeastern Baseball social media accounts (@LionUpBaseball) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to stay engaged with the program.
 
The latest updates are also available at www.LionSports.net and the Lions Gameday Experience app. Available for both Android and iOS devices, the Gameday app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.
 
OPPONENT | LOCATION
Southeastern (35-13, 20-7 SLC) at Nicholls (16-30, 9-18 SLC)
Ray E. Didier Field (Thibodaux, Louisiana)
 
DATES | TIMES | PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday, May 8 – 6 p.m. (CT)
SLU – RHP Brennan Stuprich (9-3, 2.14) vs.
NICH – RHP Nuno Parache (3-1, 4.37)
 
Friday, May 9 – 6 p.m. (CT)
SLU – RHP Lakin Polk (4-0, 2.01) vs.
NICH – RHP Alec Sparks (4-3, 3.43)
 
Saturday, May 10 – 1 p.m. (CT)
SLU – RHP Blake Lobell (6-1, 3.93) vs.
NICH – TBA (0-0, 0.00)
 
RADIO | VIDEO | INTERNET | MOBILE DEVICES
• Radio – KSLU 90.9 The Lion
• TV / Video – None
• www.LionSports.net – live stats and audio
• Lions Gameday Experience app