LAKE CHARLES—McNeese softball will conclude its seven-game home stand this weekend with a Southland Conference series against league leading Nicholls.
 
The pivotal but not must-win series for both teams will begin with a single game at 6 p.m. Friday. The series will conclude with a doubleheader at 12 p.m. Saturday.
 
McNeese (23-23, 14-4) is one of two teams tied for second place heading into the weekend, one game behind Nicholls (26-17, 15-3 SLC). Sam Houston State is also tied for second place heading into its series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
McNeese will look to regroup from its 10-4 loss to Southern Miss on Wednesday that saw the Cowgirls defense making uncharacteristic errors that allowed eight unearned runs.
 
The series will pit the league's top two pitching staffs. Nicholls staff enters the weekend with a 1.30 conference ERA and the Cowgirls staff carries a 1.61 ERA.
 
Megan Landry heads up the Nicholls pitching squad with a 0.87 ERA in conference action and is 20-9 on the season with a 1.68 overall ERA. Emily Danenhower is 4-0 with a 1.64 ERA and Alexis LaBure is 2-7 with a 3.50 ERA.
 
McNeese's staff consist of five pitchers who have a combined 2.48 ERA. Saleen Flores (4-3) ranks fourth in the SLC with a conference 1.17 ERA. Alexsandra Flores (9-9) ranks fifth in the SLC with a 1.21 ERA. Caroline Settle (6-7) ranks eighth in the SLC with a 1.62 ERA. Amber Coons (4-4) who has an overall 2.05 ERA ranks 14^th in the SLC with a 2.21 ERA. Ashley Koncir who got her first start of the season in her 11 appearance against Southern Miss Wednesday is 0-0 on the year with a 4.08 ERA.
 
The Colonels head into the weekend second in the SLC with a .323 batting average while the Cowgirls are third with a .309 average.
 
Kali Clement leads Nicholls with a .369 overall average and is batting .415 in SLC games while Samantha Dares is batting .354 overall and .420 in SLC games. Clement leads the team with six home runs. Kasey Frederick leads the Colonels with 27 RBI while Amanda Gianelloni has a team high 11 doubles.
 
For the Cowgirls, Justyce McClain has a team best .409 overall batting average and a .410 average in conference games. Cori McCrary carries a .348 overall average and a .472 average in SLC games.