NATCHITOCHES – The 23^rd-ranked McNeese Cowboys will open up a big three-game Southland Conference series at Northwestern State on Friday at 6:30 as the Cowboys look to remain atop the league standings with four conference series remaining to play.
 
All three games of the series will be broadcast on the McNeese Radio Network (KEZM 1310 AM, KEZMonline.com or McNeeseSports.com).
 
McNeese (26-10, 16-2 SLC), ranked 23^rd in this week's Collegiate Baseball News poll marking the first time in school history to garner a top 25 ranking, is coming off a hard-fought, 8-7 walk-off loss to Louisiana Tech on Tuesday night and snapping a seven-game winning streak, the second-longest streak of the season.
 
The Cowboys will head into this weekend's series having won their last three conference games on the road, all three at Abilene Christian.
 
Northwestern State (12-23, 4-11) has won two straight games and is coming off a 16-1 rout over Prairie View on Tuesday.
 
McNeese head coach Justin Hill, who spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons as a volunteer assistant at NSU and helping the Demons to the '05 conference title and NCAA appearance, is expecting a battle from the home team who has won two straight games, including a win at Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday.
 
"I think it's going to be a big challenge for us," said Hill. "Northwestern is always a tough place to play. I know they may not be having the season they want to but they're always good. They have great coaches and a lot of good players.
 
"We're going to have to play well."
 
McNeese will be looking to get out to a quick start, and with speedster Robbie Podorsky leading things off, that has been a common sight for the Cowboys.
 
In leading off in all 36 games for the Cowboys, Podorsky has reached base a total of 22 times in his first at-bat. He's scored 18 times when reaching on a first inning AB as the Cowboys have posted a 13-5 record when he scores in the first.
 
"It's going to be important for us to get out to a good start," said Hill. "I think a lot of that comes on the mound."
 
Austin Sanders (4-2, 2.56) will get the Friday night start, eight days after tossing his first career complete game shutout in a 5-0 win over UNO last Thursday.
 
"It's good to have him going for us in game one," said Hill of Sanders. "We'll just see where the game brings us. I feel confident with our bullpen. We're hopeful we can score some runs and not have to use them a game or two.
 
"You know it's going to be tight at some point. We expect to play well. This will be a good test for us going forward."
 
Rhett Deaton (6-0, 2.56) will start on Saturday while Aidan Anderson (3-2, 6.99) will get his third straight weekend start on Sunday.
 
The McNeese rotation is nearly flawless in conference games. The three starters are 11-1 with a 2.15 ERA in 14 combined starts – six by Sanders and Deaton and two by Anderson. They're also averaging nearly seven innings of work in each start.
 
The three horses coming out of the bullpen in the latter innings – Grant Anderson, Trent Fontenot and Collin Kober – have appeared in 50 combined games in, compiled a 8-3 record and have recorded 12 saves, eight by Kober with five of those in SLC games.
 
Offensively, McNeese was tabbed by the NCAA on Thursday as the nation's 14^th-best offensive club. Hitting a league-best .316 on the season, McNeese is ranked 10^th in the NCAA with an .896 OPS (on-base plus slugging) 14^th with 7.78 runs scored per game, 19^th with 10.86 hits per game, and 25^th with 1.11 home runs per game.
 
The club's batting average is also ranked No. 13 in the nation while Podorsky is ranked fourth in the NCAA with 47 runs scored and second with 1.31 runs scored per game.
 
Third baseman Matt Gallier tops the team with a .386 batting average to go along with 10 home runs and 36 RBI. Left fielder Shane Selman is hitting .363, Joe Provenzano .362, Jake Cochran .357 and Ricky Ramirez, Jr. at .341.
 
WORTH NOTING:
• McNeese head coach Justin Hill was a volunteer coach for NSU in 2004 and 2005, two of the year's current NSU head coach Bobby Barbier was an all-conference player for the Demons.
• McNeese went 2-2 against the Demons last year, dropping two in a three-game series in Lake Charles then defeating NSU in the first round of the SLC Tournament.
• Series is 5-5 in last 10 games.
• McNeese has scored 51 runs in the first inning on the season, the highest scoring inning for the team.
• Matt Gallier has the longest current hitting streak at 11 games, Brett Whelton at 8, Shane Selman 7, Mitchell Rogers and Jake Cochran 6.
• Ricky Ramirez, Jr. has reached base (hit, HBP, BB, E, FC) in 30 consecutive games.