LAKE CHARLES—McNeese softball will open its home schedule Friday with a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Missouri State as part of the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns Invitational. The doubleheader will be played at Cowgirl Diamond.
 
McNeese (7-3) will travel to Lafayette Sunday to face Hofstra at noon and No. 6 UL-Lafayette at 2:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised on ESPN3.
 
Friday's doubleheader has been tabbed as the Cowgirls' Leukemia Awareness game and McNeese is asking fans attending the game to wear orange in support of Leukemia. The Cowgirls and Missouri State will be playing in support of Missouri State's sophomore Allie Alvstad. Alvstad was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in September and is currently in Houston recovering from a successful bone marrow transplant.
 
McNeese players will wear orange shirts in pre-game warm-up and the Missouri State sophomore class will throw out the first pitch in Alvstad's honor. Missouri State will adorn their uniform with orange accessories in honor of their teammate. For the latest information on Allie's Journey, CLICK HERE
 
The Cowgirls are looking forward to playing in front of a home crowd after spending the last two weekends on the road at the Sand Dollar Classic and the Houston Hilton Invitational.
 
McNeese is coming off the Houston Hilton Invitational title where the Cowgirls picked up wins over Houston, UMass, Northern Iowa and DePaul. Two of the Cowgirl losses this season were to nationally ranked Alabama and South Alabama.
 
Senior Lauren Langner has produced at the plate the last two weeks and leads McNeese with a .438 batting average with 14 hits and seven runs scored.
 
Junior Emily Vincent has been solid in the circle as well as at the plate so far this season.  Vincent has a perfect 4-0 record with a 0.64 ERA in 22 innings.  The Sulphur native has given up only nine hits, two earned runs and has struck out 12. At the plate, Vincent is second on the team with a .414 batting average, .621 slugging percent with 12 hits, four doubles, one triple and seven walks.
 
Freshman Hailey Drew had a break out weekend in Houston last weekend and enters the home opener leading McNeese with three home runs, 10 RBI along with three doubles. Drew has a .421 batting average and a 1.053 slugging percent.
 
Missouri State (6-4) is coming off a 2-3 record at the Texas A&M Aggie Classic last weekend.
 
Rebecca McPherson has a team high .423 batting average, 11 hits while Ali Trickey is batting .400. Chelsea Thomas had a good weekend at the Aggie Classic coming away with five hits, six RBI and two home runs. She leads the Bears with four home runs and 11 RBI on the season.