LAKE CHARLES—The Southland's top two softball teams will square off in a key conference series this weekend when the first place Cowgirls host second place Nicholls Colonels. The opening game of the series will have a 6 p.m. start Friday night with the series concluding with a noon doubleheader Saturday. All three games will be broadcast on kezmonline. Fans can watch/follow all three games through live streaming or live stats on mcneesesports.com.
Friday's game has been designated as Fan Appreciation Day while Saturday's game is the Cowgirls' annual Strikeout Cancer game. A silent auction will take place with proceeds going towards the Ethel Precht Foundation. Also, all cancer survivors will be recognized and will be allowed onto the field for the National Anthem.
McNeese (26-8, 11-1 SLC) is one and a half games ahead of Nicholls (24-12, 9-2 SLC) in the league standings heading into the weekend. The Cowgirls have won 10 of their last 12 games and are coming off a 4-1 non-conference road loss to Houston on Wednesday.
The series will feature the top two pitching staffs in the conference. The Colonels come in with a league low 2.02 ERA. The Cowgirls are next with a 2.18 team ERA. The team's rank 1-2 in batters struck out with the Cowgirl pitchers having struck out 195 batters. Nicholls' staff has 182 strikeouts.
The teams have the conference's top four pitchers among them. Nicholls' Hannah Haydel boast the league's best ERA (1.35) with McNeese's
Emily Vincent second with a 1.51 ERA and
Jamie Allred with a 1.82 ERA. Megan Landry has a 1.96 ERA for the Colonels.
Haydel (12-6) and Landry (11-5) have thrown the bulk of the innings for Nicholls. Haydel has thrown 124.1 innings and has 86 strikeouts. Landry has thrown 100.0 innings and has 87 strikeouts.
As for the Cowgirls, a three-player rotation has been used during conference games. Vincent, Allred and junior
Rachel Smith have thrown all the innings in conference play. Vincent (9-2) has a team low 1.51 ERA with a team high 95 strikeouts in 83 2/3 innings. Allred (10-1) has a 1.82 ERA in 77 innings and Smith is 6-2 on the year with a 2.56 ERA. Smith has 25 strikeouts in 41 innings.
McNeese All-American catcher
Erika Piancastelli still stands as one of the nations home run leaders despite not getting one to leave the yard against Houston. She has 17 home runs on the year, one shy of the single season record and is four away from becoming McNeese's career leader. Piancastelli leads the SLC in home runs, slugging percent, on base percent, runs scored, RBI, and walks. She has a .419 average and is coming off a series against Abilene Christian where she was walked in 11 of her 13 at bats including eight times in Friday's doubleheader.
Nicholls, winners of their last eight games, was picked to finished seventh by the coaches and eighth by the sports information directors' preseason polls. The Colonels are coming off a doubleheader win over Alcorn State on Tuesday.
