HAMMOND – Two of the top baseball teams in the Southland Conference over the last few years and the two predicted to finish 1-2 in this year's standings – McNeese and Southeastern – will collide in Hammond for a three-game series beginning Friday night at 6.
 
McNeese (22-11, 4-5 SLC) has won three straight games and is coming off its first league series win on the season after beating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 2-games-to-1 before defeating Louisiana Christian and Rice in mid-week action. The Lions (17-16, 3-6) were swept at New Orleans last weekend but downed nationally ranked ULL on Wednesday to snap a six-game losing streak.
 
The series will continue with a 6 p.m. game on Saturday followed by the finale at 1 on Sunday. All three games will broadcast on ESPN Plus.
 
The Cowboys will look to get off on a winning note in the series opener, like it has done all season, when Grant Rogers looks to improve on his 8-0 record. The reigning SLC Pitcher of the Week, Rogers was recently named a mid-season All-American by D1Baseball. He leads the nation in wins and is ranked No. 3 with a 1.42 ERA.
 
Offensively, The Cowboys are fourth in the league in hitting with a team .281 average. Shortstop Josh Leslie leads the way with a .333 mark to go along with a SLC-leading 42 RBIs.
 
In conference games only, the Cowboys are second in the league with a .300 batting average while right fielder Braden Duhon leads the way with a .375 mark.
 
Notes and Trends:
• McNeese will carry a three-game winning streak into its showdown with Southeastern Louisiana.
• The Cowboys, last year's regular season champion, was picked No. 1 in the preseason poll while SLU, last year's SLC tournament champ, was picked second in the poll.
• The Cowboys defeated Louisiana Christian 3-0 on Tuesday and followed that up with a come-from-behind, 7-6 win at Rice on Wednesday that saw them score three runs in the top of the ninth to get the win.
• The win gave 10th-year head coach Justin Hill his 288th career win, ranking him as the 10th winningest coach in Southland Conference history.
• The Cowboys' pitching staff has struck out 10 or more batters 10 times this year, most recently vs. Louisiana Christian where three pitchers combined to K 12 batters.
• McNeese is 18-0 when leading after 6 innings; 17-1 with lead after 7; 18-0 when leading after 8.
• 17-1 when scoring 7 or more runs.
• McNeese has held opponents to 5 hits or less in 11 games this season, including a combined no-hitter against Prairie View on March 11.
• McNeese's 6 shutouts on the season is ranked No. 3 in the NCAA (LSU and Tennessee leads with 7).
• The 6 shutouts also rank as the third-most in a season for McNeese (record is 9 in 1981).
• No. 1 in SLC and 51st in NCAA with 26 double plays turned... No. 2 in SLC and 10th in NCAA with 80 stolen bases... No. 2 in SLC and 14th in NCAA with 14 triples.
• Ace pitcher Grant Rogers is the first and only 8-game winner in the NCAA (8-0)... he's also ranked No. 1 in the SLC and 4th in NCAA with a 1.42 ERA... 1st in SLC and 5th in NCAA with 2 CG thrown... 1st in SLC and 8th in NCAA with a 9.33 strikeouts to walks ratio... 2nd in SLC with 56 strikeouts.
• Rogers is the reigning SLC Pitcher of the Week, an honor he's won twice this season.
• SS Josh Leslie is No. 1 in the SLC and 23rd in the NCAA as the toughest player to strike out... in 138 ABs on the season, Leslie has K'd just 10 times (1 K per 13.8 AB).
 
Grant Rogers named midseason All-American by D1Baseball
• McNeese Friday night starting pitcher Grant Rogers has been named a midseason All-American by D1Baseball, earning a spot on the second team.
• Rogers is the only pitcher in the country with 8 wins on the year, having compiled an 8-0 record and collected a victory in all eight starts.
• He's also fourth in the nation with a 1.42 ERA.
• Rogers will get his next start on Friday at Southeastern Louisiana.
 
JUSTIN HILL MOVING UP SLC CAREER WINS LADDER
• McNeese head coach Justin Hill, already McNeese's all-time winningest coach, moved up into 10th place on the Southland Conference career wins list after Wednesday night's win at Rice.
• The win was Hill's 288th in his 10-year career, passing Seth Thibodaux who coached Nicholls from 2011-21 on the conference list.
• He's just 12 wins away from reaching 300 career wins.
 
LESLIE LEADS LEAGUE IN RBIS AND DOUBLES
• Senior shortstop Josh Leslie continues to build on his RBI and doubles total, now with a Southland Conference-best 42 RBIs and 15 doubles on the season.
• Those numbers rank him 32nd and 12th in the NCAA, respectively
• In the last 4 games, Leslie is 8 for 17 at the plate and has raised is average to a team-leading .333 mark.
 
GONZALES TOUGH TO STEAL ON
• Opponents have stolen just 22 bags on the Cowboys this season and a lot of that has to do with the play of catcher Andruw Gonzales.
• Gonzales has thrown out 18 of 32 attempts, a 56 percent runners-thrown-out rate.
 
SERIES VS. SOUTHEASTERN
• McNeese's series with Southeastern is one of the longest running in school history, having played the Lions 190 times.
• SLU holds a 99-90-1 lead in the series that began back in 1960.
• The two teams have played each other every year since 1984.
• Southeastern defeated McNeese 2-games-to-1 in last year's SLC Championship series to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Cowboys swept the Lions in the three-game regular season series which was played in Lake Charles.