LAKE CHARLES—McNeese softball will travel to Huntsville, Texas this weekend for a three game Southland Conference series at Sam Houston State. The series will begin with a single game Friday at 6:30 p.m. and will conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon. Streaming will not be available but live stats will be provided for all three games.
 
McNeese (17-9, 0-3 SLC) will look to bounce back from a Southland Conference opening sweep at Central Arkansas last weekend, the first conference road sweep for the Cowgirls since the 2011 season.
 
The Cowgirls are coming off a 9-5 home win over Florida International on Wednesday that snapped a five game losing streak.
 
Junior Justyce McClain continues to lead the Cowgirls with a .443 batting average, 39 hits, 24 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases.
 
Senior Erika Piancastelli, who is coming off a game where she broke the McNeese career doubles record, leads the team with 24 RBI, 11 doubles, 17 walks, a .773 slugging percent and is tied for a team high seven homeruns. She is second on the team with a .347 batting average, 23 runs scored, and 26 hits.
 
Fellow senior Morgan Catron is also tied for a team high with seven homeruns and has hit one in each of the last two games including a grand slam against Houston on Tuesday. Catron also second in walks (15), RBI (23), slugging percent (.658) and is third on the team with a .342 batting average.
 
Freshman pinch runner Toni Perrin is perfect on the base paths, having swiped 11 of 11 bases.
 
Sophomore Alexsandra Flores, coming off the win over Florida International leads the pitching staff with a 7-4 record and a 2.56 ERA. Flores has 40 strikeouts in 65.2 innings. Freshmen Caroline Settle is 5-4 with a 3.30 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 59.1 innings and Amber Coons is 4-1 with a 3.50 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 42 innings. Ashley Koncir is 1-0 with a 3.07 ERA with one strikeout in 13.2 innings.
 
Sam Houston State (10-14, 3-0 SLC) is coming off a home split with Marist on Tuesday, taking the first game 3-2 before dropping the nightcap 6-2. The Bearkats opened conference play with a series sweep at home against Incarnate Word, taking the doubleheader 4-0 and 7-2. The Bearkats then went on to sweep the Cardinals with an 8-0, five inning series finale win.
 
Megan McDonald leads SHSU with a .359 batting average, 23 hits and is second with seven RBI. Tiffany Thompson has a team high four home runs and is tied for a team best eight RBI. Lindsey McLeod is 7-4 in the circle with a 1.75 ERA and has done the bulk of the pitching. She has 89 strikeouts in 76 innings.