LAKE CHARLES – The defending Southland Conference champion McNeese Cowboy baseball team will open up the 2018 season on Friday when it hosts former Cowboy player and head coach Todd Butler and his Wichita State Shockers.
First pitch for Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. followed by a 3 o'clock game on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. The early start to Sunday's finale is to allow time for WSU to catch its scheduled flight back home out of Houston.
"It's time to play somebody else," said fifth-year head coach
Justin Hill who is the first coach in school history to win 30 or more games in his first four seasons. "There's a lot of competition this year. We lost some guys that were key contributors for us last year to graduation and the draft. We have a lot of guys returning and a lot of new players who did a good job in the fall."
The Cowboys return two of their top three offensive players from last season, including reigning league hitter of the year
Shane Selman (.333, 14 home runs, 59 RBI) and all-conference second baseman
Joe Provenzano (.336-6-54).
On the mound, McNeese will open up the first weekend with the rotation of
Aidan Anderson (3-2, 7.78 ERA), newcomer Cayne Ueckert and
Bryan King (3-4, 6.35).
Ueckert (pronounced Eck-ert) is a hard-throwing righty who transferred in after pitching two seasons at Panola College where last season he struck out 44 batters in 37.1 innings pitched.
"I like the way our pitching staff is shaping up," said Hill. "We feel like we're going to have some role guys out of the bullpen. It'll probably look a little different than it has in year's past."
One of the top guys out of the pen last year was
Grant Anderson who will be returning for his junior season. Anderson posted a perfect 8-0 record last year with a 2.30 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched.
Other returners who are expected to be in the lineup include catcher
Dustin Duhon (.268-3-26), infielder Mitchell Rogers (.302-9.20) and outfielder
Jacob Stracner (.196-1-9).
The Cowboys will be opening up at home for the fifth straight season under Hill and have compiled an 11-1 record in those opening weekends.
This will be the first meeting against the Shockers since the 2005 season. The two teams first met in 2003 and Wichita State has won two of the three previous outings.
MISSISSIPPI STATE TICKETS: Tickets for the Cowboys' Feb. 28 home game against Mississippi State will go on sale Monday, Feb. 19, at the Jack Doland Field House Ticket Office. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased online at McNeeseSports.com.
GAME NOTE: Shockers' head coach Todd Butler is a Sulphur native who played for the Cowboys in 1985 and 1986 and was the head coach from 2001-03, compiling a 90-83 record and leading the team to the 2003 Southland Conference Tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Rice Regional.
