LAKE CHARLES—McNeese softball will step out of Southland Conference play for a midweek game Wednesday at former Southland Conference member Texas State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
 
McNeese (23-10) is coming off a seven game week last week with a non-conference series against Utah, a conference series against Houston Baptist and a game against no. 6 Oklahoma on Sunday that was played in Baton Rouge.
 
Texas State, now a member of the Sun Belt will enter the game with a 19-13 overall record. The Bobcats hold a 47-38-1 record against McNeese. The two teams last met in 2011 at the Southland Conference Tournament with Texas State winning 2-1. The last McNeese win over Texas State was earlier in the 2011 season with a 7-6 win in San Marcos. McNeese will be the fourth Southland Conference team Texas State has faced this season. The Bobcats picked up 6-1 and 15-6 wins against Sam Houston State in the Texas State Tournament. Texas State also picked up shutout wins over Lamar (8-0) and Stephen F. Austin (1-0/ 8 inn., 9-0/ 5 inn.) in the past two weeks.
 
The Cowgirls have won three of their last four games and are led at the plate by senior Lauren Langner. Langner is batting .406 and is one of four Cowgirls batting over .300. Langner is also tied for team-high 39 hits and is second with 20 runs scored and 16 stolen bases.
 
Freshman Erika Piancastelli is second on the team with a .385 average and leads the team in almost every other hitting category. She leads the team in RBI (27), home runs (9), slugging percent (.791), on base percent (.495) and is tied for the team lead with 10 doubles.
 
Junior Emily Vincent is batting .371 and leads the team with two triples and is tied with Langner with 39 hits and tied with Piancastelli with 10 doubles.
 
Freshman Hailey Drew has a .337 average, leads the team with 23 walks and is second with 18 RBI.
 
Vincent leads the pitching staff with a 9-2 record and a 1.19 ERA. Vincent also has two shutouts on the season and one save. She is tied for a team high 70.2 innings pitched, has given up at team low 44 hits and is second with 56 strikeouts.
 
Sophomore Rachel Smith leads the Cowgirls with 58 strikeouts and is second on the team with a 2.04 ERA along with an 8-3 record.
 
Texas State is coming off a Sun Belt doubleheader split against Louisiana-Monroe on Monday that saw freshman Randi Rupp throw a no-hitter in the 9-0 opening game win. Rupp is 13-8 on the year with a 2.65 ERA. She has thrown 145.1 innings and has 176 strikeouts.
Kendall Wiley leads the Bobcats with a .394 batting average, 32 RBI, eight home runs and is tied in hits (39) with Kelli Baker. Ariel Ortiz leads the team with 14 doubles while Courtney Harris has nine stolen bases.   
 
McNeese will return to Southland Conference action on the weekend when they will travel to Abilene Christian for a three game series. The series will begin with a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Friday. The series will conclude with a single game at noon Saturday.