LAKE CHARLES—McNeese softball will begin a 19 game road schedule that will span nearly a month beginning this weekend at the Southern Miss Black and Gold Invitational where the Cowgirls will go up against two nationally ranked teams in Baylor and Alabama as well as games against Mississippi Valley State and host Southern Miss.
Fans who will be traveling to the tournament are reminded that there is a clear bag policy in place before entering the softball complex. All games will have live stats and only the game against Southern Miss will be streamed for a fee.
McNeese (4-1) is coming off its first loss of the season in an 8-7 setback against Louisiana Tech on Wednesday. The Cowgirls will open tournament action against 11
th ranked Baylor at 4 p.m. Friday before facing Mississippi Valley at 7 p.m. later in the evening.
The Cowgirls will take on another ranked opponent on Saturday against 9
th ranked Alabama at 1 p.m. then will conclude tournament play against Southern Miss at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
Baylor (3-0) is coming off a three game opening season series sweep over Northwestern State last week. Alabama (3-0) has wins over South Alabama and are coming off wins over Penn State and Lamar at the Sand Dollar Classic last weekend. The Tide has yet to give up a run this season and have outscored its opponents 24-0.
Mississippi Valley (0-4) is winless on the season after taking part in the Mississippi State Tournament last weekend. The Devilettes played Missouri State, Mississippi State twice and Nebraska-Omaha in its opening weekend.
Southern Miss (2-4) will enter the weekend following a doubleheader win over Alcorn State on Tuesday. The Golden Eagles opened the season at the at the LSU Tiger Classic where they dropped games to Massachusetts, LSU, UT-Arlington and Syracuse last weekend.
Alexandria Saldivar leads the Cowgirls with a .667 batting average and
Justyce McClain is batting .529. McClain leads the team with nine hits and three stolen bases. Designated player
Morgan Catron has a .438 average with seven hits and leads the Cowgirls with nine RBI and two home runs.
In the circle, freshman
Caroline Settle, the Southland Conference pitcher of the week boasts a 3-0 record with a .053 ERA. Settle has seven strikeouts in 13.1 innings and has given up one earned run and four walks.
Keep up with all the latest softball news and information by visiting mcneesesports.com or follow the program on its social media outlets at
www.Facebook.com/McNeese State Softball along with @McNeeseSoftball on Twitter and msucowgirlsoftball on Instagram.
Tournament Schedule
Friday, Feb. 16
vs. #11 Baylor (4 p.m.)
vs. Mississippi Valley State (7 p.m.)
Saturday, Feb. 17
vs. #9 Alabama (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Feb. 18
vs. Southern Miss (10 a.m.)
