BATON ROUGE – McNeese will have a busy final week of the regular season beginning Tuesday night when the Cowboys visit No. 5-ranked LSU for its annual in-state matchup.
 
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 at Alex Box Stadium. The game will broadcast live on the SEC Network Plus streaming platform.
 
Following Tuesday's game, the Cowboys will return home for a three-game, out-of-conference series against Miami-Ohio beginning Wednesday at 6 and continuing on Thursday at 6 then Friday at 1.
 
The Cowboys clinched a spot in next week's Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, which McNeese will host starting on Tuesday, May 23 and running through Saturday, May 27.
 
McNeese (32-18) is coming off a series loss at Northwestern State over the weekend to close out league play with a 12-12 record. The Cowboys are currently in sixth place in the standings but could finish as high as fourth depending on how games play out this week.
 
Derrick Cherry will get the start on the mound at The Box on Tuesday night. The senior is 3-2 on the season with a 5.09 ERA and has started in nine of his 13 appearances on the year.
 
Offensively, McNeese is led at the plate by Josh Leslie's .308 batting average while Tré Obregon III is hitting .304. Leslie also leads the team with 50 RBIs and is tied for the team lead with eight home runs, matching Brad Burckel and Cooper Hext.
 
LSU, the No. 1 team in the nation for most of the season, fell to fifth in the latest major polls after going 1-2 against Mississippi State at home this past weekend. The Tigers are 27-7 at home this season and 17-2 in non-SEC games.
 
LSU leads the all-time series by a 32-12 margin and defeated the Cowboys 6-3 last season in Baton Rouge.
 
Miami-Ohio is a member of the Mid-American Conference and is 19-34 on the season. The Redhawks are 13-17 in MAC play and in seventh place. This will be the first-ever meeting on the diamond between the two schools.