LAKE CHARLES, La. – Coming off its first Southland series victory, McNeese Baseball (21-21, 5-10 SLC) takes to the road once more to challenge its fifth Power 5 opponent in Houston (22-22, 6-15 Big 12) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
 
The matchup at Schroeder Park is slated to be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats and audio available to fans following along.

Graduate student Daelan Caraway will make his third start of the season for the Cowboys, his last coming against defending national champion LSU. Since then, he's made appearances against four different opponents. He will face fellow right-handed pitcher Dan Wright for the Cougars.
 
Over the weekend, the Cowboys defeated Southeastern on Sunday with a walk-off grand slam by senior Cooper Hext for their first conference series win of the season. The Pokes took the 9-8 victory on Friday to set up the rubber match finale on Sunday.
 
Through the prior four games for the Pokes, two batters own a batting average over .400 with Elliot Hebert (senior) leading the way at .429 with six hits in 14 at-bats, scoring five runs with two doubles and two home runs. Junior Grant Mangrum slashed .417 with five hits of his own, smacking the ball for two doubles and a home run.
 
Throughout the season, McNeese has faced three currently ranked opponents in top-ranked Texas A&M, second-ranked Arkansas, and No. 18 UL-Lafayette.
 
McNeese returns to SLC action at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday through Sunday as the Cowboys looks to rise in the conference standings.

Midweek Preview
Wed., May 1 at Houston | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN+ | Caraway (2-3) vs. Wright (2-0)
 
Series Preview
• McNeese and Houston first met in March of 1971 where the Pokes took a 6-0 victory over the Cougars.
• The last three of the teams' meetings have occurred in Lake Charles in '22 & '23.
• Houston holds the all-time series lead 52-17.
• McNeese has nine wins over Houston on the road.
 
McNeese Notes
• Houston is the fifth Power Five opponent of the season for the Cowboys.
• Cooper Hext is eighth in the nation with five triples on the season. Hext leads the conference while Conner Westenburg sits fifth in the conference with three.
• The blue and gold sit 22nd in the nation with 16 triples, second in the conference, two shy of New Orleans.
• Alexis Gravel's 11 starts place him 19th in the nation and tied with seven other players for the top spot in the conference
• McNeese is 65th in D1 Baseball with two shutouts on the season, blanking Northwestern and Mississippi Valley State.
• JT Moeller and Kainin Morrow lead the team in pitching appearances at 19 and each sit tied for fifth in the conference.
• Max Swenson owns the lowest ERA of the relief pitchers at 3.86 over 16.1 IP.
• Cooper owns the best batting average on the team at .314, collecting 20 extra-base hits, the second most on the squad.
• Conner Westenburg leads the squad with 21 extra-base hits with 13 doubles, three triples, and five home runs.
• The Cowboys have earned at least six hits in 34 of 42 games this season.
• Fifteen pitchers on the Cowboys' staff have made at least one appearance through five conference series. All season long, 17 pitchers have pitched on the mound.
• The NCAA ranked McNeese as having the 17th-hardest strength of schedule in the nation before Southland play after taking on ranked opponents in Arkansas and Texas A&M, the second-to-last undefeated team.
• Cooper Hext was named to the SLC Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
• McNeese was slated to finish fifth in the conference in the SLC Preseason Poll.
• The Cowboys have 23 returners on the squad with 17 newcomers for the season.
 
Scouting the Opponent
• Houston is coming off a non-conference series win against UT-Arlington.
• The Cougars are 5-2 against similar opponents this season.
• U of H is 5-5 in their last ten games.

Last Five
3/21/2023          Houston 9, McNeese 6
2/22/2022          Houston 3, McNeese 2
3/19/2019          McNeese 1, Houston 0
2/20/2019          McNeese 13, Houston 5
3/13/2018          McNeese 7, Houston 6