LAKE CHARLES—Coming off the Troy Classic title, the McNeese softball team will travel to Gulfport, Mississippi this weekend take part in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic Friday through Sunday.
McNeese (7-2) will begin tournament play against the 23
rd ranked team in the nation and undefeated Mississippi State (10-0) at 8 p.m. Friday. This will be the second game against an SEC opponent this season. McNeese defeated Ole Miss 2-1 in the opening game of the Troy Classic last weekend. The Cowgirls will face Jackson State (1-4) at 12:30 p.m. and Southern Miss (7-6) at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Cowgirls will conclude tournament action with its second game against Mississippi State at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
The Cowgirls and Bulldogs will meet for the third time with Mississippi State holding an all-time 2-0 record. The last time the teams met on the diamond was during the 2005 season. Mississippi State picked up a 5-0 win over the Cowgirls at the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajun Classic. The first meeting was during the 1997 season in Starkville, Mississippi where the Cowgirls fell 3-2.
All-American
Erika Piancastelli who enters the weekend with a .400 batting average, 10 hits and two home runs along with eight walks leads McNeese at the plate. Senior outfielder
Taylor Schmidt leads the Cowgirls with nine RBI, is tied for second on the team with nine hits and is third on with a .321 batting average. Sophomore
Hailey Drew is second on the them with a .333 batting average while junior
Marisa Taunton who saw her first start last weekend, leads McNeese with seven stolen bases and is tied with Schmidt with nine hits.
The Cowgirl pitching staff has been solid all season and dominated their opponents last weekend, having held them to a .054 batting average. The staff also produced a 1.00 ERA in 35 innings and picked up a total of 42 strikeouts.
Senior
Emily Vincent, who was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week after posting a 2-0-1 record with a 0.00 ERA last week, leads the staff with a 1.15 ERA in 18.1 innings pitched and has 22 strikeouts.
Jolie Trahan is 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA,
Jamie Allred is 3-1 with a 2.26 ERA and leads the staff with 26 strikeouts.
Rachel Smith is 1-1 on the year with a 2.25 ERA in 9.1 innings.
Mississippi State is led by Emily Heimbergers .522 batting average. Heimberger is tied for second on the team with 12 hits along with Kayla Winkfield. Winkfiels is third on the team with a .400 average and has team high 10 runs scored. Loryn Nichols is second with a .444 average with eight hits in 18 at bats. Nichols leads the Bulldogs with six stolen bases. Katie Anne Bailey has a team best 13 hits and is tied with Morgan Bell with 12 RBI.
Holly Ward leads the pitching staff with a 5-0 record in the circle and is tied with Regan Green with a team low 0.49 ERA. Ward leads Mississippi State with 29 strikeouts and Green has 24.
Jackson State enters the tournament after a doubleheader loss 7-4, 6-4 at Nicholls on Wednesday. The Tigers dropped their season opener to SLC member Houston Baptist 3-1 at the Sand Dollar Classic two weeks ago.
The Tigers lone win of the season was an 8-6 win over Florida A&M on Feb. 13. They are led by Canessa Swanson's .615 average, eight hits and five RBI. Merina Young as the lone win with a 5.02 ERA and eight strikeouts.
Southern Miss is coming off a split against Ole Miss Wednesday picking up a 2-1 win in game one before falling 10-1 (5 inn.) in game two.
The Eagles are led by Rachel Johnson's .429 batting average. Katie Cleary leads the team with 14 RBI and is tied with Morgan McKeever for a team high 13 hits. Cleary has the only home run for Southern Miss this season.
The pitching staff is led by Samantha Robles who is 4-2 on the season with a 2.80 ERA in 50.0 innings pitched and 28 strikeouts.
