LAKE CHARLES – It might be two years later, but the McNeese Cowboys will finally begin the defense of their Southland Conference Tournament championship when they host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Joe Miller Ballpark in a three-game series beginning Friday at 6.
The 2020 baseball season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the same day the Cowboys were set to open up league play.
Originally scheduled to be a four-game series, the weekend has been reduced to a three-game set due to COVID protocol with the Islanders' team as they don't meet the minimum requirement on the active roster to play four games.
Friday's first game will carry a 6 p.m. first pitch. Saturday's game will begin at 2 while Sunday's finale is at 1.
The Cowboys (5-6) are coming off three losses at Louisiana Tech last weekend and will look to remain unbeaten at The Jeaux where they will carry a 5-0 mark. The Islanders are 4-8 on the year and 0-6 away from home.
WEEKEND ROTATIONS:
McNeese will start RHP
Christian Vega (0-1, 6.35) on the mound for Friday's game and will follow with RHP
Ty Abraham (1-0, 1.35) on Saturday and will be making his fourth start on the season.
AMCC will start John Gaddis (0-0, 12.00) on Friday and Hayden Thomas (1-1, 2.41) on Saturday. Neither team has announced a Sunday starter.
LOOKING AT THE STATS:
McNeese will enter the weekend ranked fourth in the Southland Conference in batting with a team average of .285 while Corpus Christi is seventh with a .240 mark.
The Cowboys are ranked second in the league with 26 doubles and are tied for first with six triples.
Individually, McNeese right fielder
Clayton Rasbeary leads the Southland Conference in hitting with a .467 average while designated hitter Tré Obregon is right behind with a .415 mark. Rasbeary and
Nate Fisbeck are tied for the league lead with six doubles while Rasbeary and
Payton Harden each have two triples to tie as the league leaders.
AMCC's Luke Marbach is hitting .385 to lead his team while Josh Caraway had a team-high three home runs.
HOME SWEET HOME:
McNeese is 5-0 at home this season – 4-0 vs. Prairie View and 1-0 vs. ULL.
SERIES VS. AMCC:
McNeese holds a 17-16 lead in the all-time series against the Islanders and has won four of the last five meetings.
The last time the two teams faced off was in the second round of the 2019 SLC Tournament with McNeese winning by a 7-2 margin. The Cowboys would go on to win the tournament title and play in the NCAA Nashville Regional.
