McNeese Softball Hosts Nationally Ranked Texas Tuesday Night
 
LAKE CHARLES—McNeese softball has hosted several nationally ranked opponents in the past but on Tuesday, the Cowgirls will host No. 10/11 Texas for the first time in program history. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
 
This will be the second meeting between the two teams with the Longhorns winning the first meeting 4-0 on March 22, 2017 in Austin.
 
The Longhorns will be the ninth nationally ranked team the Cowgirls have played this season and 13 of the Cowgirls 23 games have been against ranked opponents.
 
McNeese (10-13) enters the game having won seven of its last eight games and are coming off a Southland Conference series win over Central Arkansas over the weekend.
 
Cori McCrary continues to lead McNeese with a .319 batting average with six homeruns, six doubles, six stolen bases, and 15 RBI. She is coming off a week where she hit .429 with two doubles and had three RBI. Freshmen Chloe Gomez and Aaliyah Ortiz are coming off the best weeks of their young careers. Gomez also produced a .429 average last week with six hits, one homerun and five RBI. Ortiz hit .364, belted her first collegiate homerun along with three RBI.
 
In the circle, Whitney Tate (2-5) is coming off her most productive week after posting a 2-0 record with one save and a 0.00 ERA in 11.1 innings with eight strikeouts. Saleen Flores leads the staff with four wins while Jenna Edwards has a staff low 2.28 ERA.  
 
Texas (15-2) is making a Louisiana swing and will play a doubleheader at UL-Lafayette on Wednesday. The Longhorns are riding a five-game winning streak and are coming off a 10-7 home win over BYU on Saturday.
 
Juniors Mary Iakopo and Janae Jefferson and sophomore Shealyn O'Leary are on the USA Softball National Player of the Year Top 50 Watch List.
 
McKenzie Parker leads the team with a .611 batting average having played in 11 games. Texas has 11 other players batting over .300 with Colleen Sullivan and Jordyn Whitaker batting .471. Jefferson leads the team with 26 hits while Shannon Rhodes has a team high nine homeruns and 27 RBI. Iakopo has 20 RBI on the season.
 
Ariana Adams (3-0) leads the pitching staff with a 0.76 ERA while Molly Jacobsen has the best record at 5-1 and is tied with Ryleigh White with a team high 24 strikeouts.