LAKE CHARLES – McNeese baseball returns home this weekend to continue Southland Conference play when it hosts New Orleans for a three-game series.
The series will begin with a 6 p.m. start on Friday followed by 6 o'clock on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will broadcast on ESPN Plus.
Saturday's game has been designated as Military Appreciation Game as all current and retired military will be admitted free with a valid ID while military family members will receive a discounted $5 ticket. In addition, the McNeese Para Pokes parachute team will sail into The Jeaux during the pregame.
McNeese (24-12, 6-6) is coming off a series win at Southeastern Louisiana for its second consecutive league series win. The Cowboys are tied with UNO (21-16, 6-6) in the league standings while both sit just two games out of first place in the loss column.
Shortstop Josh Leslie leads the team in both hitting (.325) and RBIs (43) and is tied for the team lead with five home runs. Leslie also tops the conference with 16 doubles, which ranks him 10th in the NCAA.
Left fielder Cooper Hext has upped his average to .304 and is hitting .340 in conference games. He's hit safely in the last five games and 11 of the last 12, posting a .340 mark during that span with four doubles and a triple.
Pitching ace Grant Rogers (8-0, 1.96 ERA) will get the start in Friday night's opener. Rogers leads the league in wins, ERA, complete games and strike outs (62) and is looking to become just the second Cowboy in school history to post a 9-0 record (Jared Gothreaux, 2000).
Notes and Trends:
• The Cowboys have recorded 583 all-time SLC wins, a conference record.
• McNeese has won 5 of its last 6 games and 6 of last 8.
• Head Coach Justin Hill has recorded 290 career wins, ranking him as the 10th winningest coach in Southland Conference history and is just 10 victories away from 300.
• The Cowboys are 8-1 in 1-run games on the year.
• 1-1 in extra-inning games.
• McNeese is 19-1 when leading after 6 innings; 17-1 with lead after 7; 18-0 when leading after 8.
• 18-2 when scoring 7 or more runs.
• McNeese has held opponents to 5 hits or less in 12 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 ranks as the third-most in a season for McNeese (record is 9 in 1981).
• 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.
• No. 1 in SLC and 57th in NCAA with 28 double plays turned... No. 1 in SLC and 10th in NCAA with 89 stolen bases... No. 2 in SLC and 17th in NCAA with 14 triples.
• SS Josh Leslie is No. 1 in the SLC and 21st in the NCAA as the toughest player to strike out... in 151 ABs on the season, Leslie has K'd just 11 times (1 K per every 13.7 AB).
• Leslie also leads the league and is ranked 10th in the nation with 16 doubles.
• LF Cooper Hext has hit five triples on the season, ranking him No. 2 in the SLC and No. 6 in NCAA.
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.
• Despite his first no-decision of the season last Friday at Southeastern, he's still tied for the NCAA lead with 8 wins (8-0) and is looking to become just the second player in school history to go 9-0 on the season (Jared Gothreaux, 2000).
• Ranked No. 1 in the SLC and 13th in NCAA with a 1.96 ERA.
• 1st in SLC and 5th in NCAA with 2 CG thrown.
• 1st in SLC and 10th in NCAA with an 8.86 strikeouts to walks ratio.
• 1st in SLC with 62 strikeouts.
JUSTIN HILL MOVING UP SLC CAREER WINS LADDER
• McNeese head coach Justin Hill, already McNeese's all-time winningest coach, has recorded 290 career wins, all at McNeese, and is currently 10th all-time in the Southland Conference record book.
• Current SLC head coach Matt Riser has won 314 games to rank 8th all-time while Central Arkansas's Allen Gum is ranked 9th with 310 wins.
• Hill's .559 win-loss percentage (290-229) ranks as the 19th-best all-time in league history.
SERIES VS. NEW ORLEANS
• McNeese holds a 35-27-1 lead in the all-time series against the Privateers.
• The two teams met in New Orleans last season with UNO sweeping the series.
• UNO has won 5 of the last 6 outings with the loss coming in the 2021 SLC Tournament with McNeese winning 12-0 in 8 innings.
