LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese baseball team is set to travel deep into the heart of Texas for a Southland Conference weekend series with the Abilene Christian Wildcats at Crutcher Scott Field.
 
The series is set to begin Friday evening with a 6 o'clock first pitch followed by 2 p.m. start on Saturday. The series is slated to wrap up Sunday afternoon at 1 o'clock.
 
All three games can be heard on KEZM – 1310 AM in Sulphur and online at kezmradio.com with Bruce Merchant providing the call. Live stats will be available throughout the entire weekend while fan's can also follow the action live with Twitter updates by following @McNeeseBaseball.
 
McNeese (20-9, 10-2 SLC) looks to bounce back from its series loss to Southeastern Louisiana last weekend. The Cowboys have won three of their first four league series, including three sweeps. McNeese took down Louisiana Tech in mid-week action on Wednesday night.
 
Matt Gallier leads the way offensively for McNeese with a .388 clip. Gallier is one of the top hitters in the league with 40 hits along with five doubles and eight home runs, 26 RBIs, 27 runs scored for a .670 slugging percentage and 23 walks for a .500 on-base percentage.  The Cowboys sport four batters who have at least 30 hits and 25 runs batted in this season.
 
Left-hander Austin Sanders (2-2, 3.38 ERA) draws the start on the mound for Friday night's opening contest against the Wildcats while right-hander Rhett Deaton (4-0 1.79 ERA) will climb the mound on Saturday. Sunday's starting pitcher has yet to be determined.
 
McNeese as a team holds a .314 batting clip along with a .482 slugging clip and a .397 on-base percentage. The Cowboys pitching staff has a 4.00 ERA and a .259 opponent batting average.
 
Abilene Christian (9-16, 1-11 SLC) has struggled lately with nine consecutive losses, all in league play. The Wildcats were swept by New Orleans, Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State. The last ACU victory came back on March 15 against UTA in Arlington.
 
Russell Crippen holds the best average on the Wildcat squad with a .414 clip along with 41 hits, 13 doubles, five homers, 19 RBI and 10 walks. Four ACU batters are hitting .300 or better on the year.
 
Abilene Christian's weekend rotation has not been announced yet.
 
The Wildcats are batting .288 as a team while the pitching staff holds a 6.80 ERA through 25 games this season.
 
McNeese, who holds a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1973, swept ACU last season in Lake Charles.