GAMETHREAD: LSU vs. Nicholls St., 6:30pm, SECN+

First off, some important news about the weekend. The threat of heavy rains from about Saturday night on has forced LSU to move this weekend's games up to a 2 and 7 DH on Friday, with a 3 pm game Saturday. If you were planning to go, you'll need your Sunday ticket to get into the 2pm Friday game. All of the games will still be airing live on SECN+. For the pitching rotation, Mainieri will go with Poche', then Lange on Friday, followed by Godfrey on Saturday.

With that in mind, it's all the more important that Freshman Doug Norman get as many innings as he can tonight to save the bullpen for a strong early test on Friday against Boston College. Another one of those freshman phenoms in last year's recruiting class, Norman is expected to continue to compete for a weekend job as the season goes on, ready to fill a spot if someone should falter. He's expected to go at least 5 innings in his first start.

And it may be quite a task. Those pesky Colonels from Nicholls St come to The Box after an impressive weekend of taking 2 of 3 from our old pals, the Stony Brook Seawolves. That series included a 10-0 Sunday win with 2 home runs. Stats this early in the year are kinda useless, but RF Alex Shermer leads them at the plate so far, batting 4 for 10 on the weekend with 2 RBIs. At the mound will be SR RHP Ryan Deemes (3-4, ERA 3.63, 57 IP, 34 K in 2014) who is coming off 3 scoreless innings in the Saturday Stony Brook game.

It's cold and a little breezy, with temps expected to dip just below 30 tonight. As with every midweek game, the plan is simple. Get in, get out, stay healthy, and in this case, save the pen for the weekend. Game is airing LIVE on SECN+