LAKE CHARLES – McNeese baseball will host Mississippi Valley State for two midweek games at Joe Miller Ballpark slated to begin Tuesday at 6 p.m. with the second game taking place Wednesday at 1 p.m. The latter is scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available for both games.
 
The Cowboys, who carry a two-game win streak into the meeting, sit at 14-4 (6-3 SLC) and are off to their best start in 25 seasons while the Delta Devils enter at 4-7 (0-3 SWAC) after their first weekend of conference play.
 
McNeese took a 2-1 series victory in the Battle of the Border against Lamar, falling in Friday's game before winning both ensuing games. The series marked the Pokes' fourth series win and second within conference play, beating Nicholls to open the SLC slate.
 
The games mark the seventh and eighth times the Pokes and Delta Devils will meet with the first game between the two taking place in 2020. McNeese has won all six games it has played against Mississippi Valley State, including a 6-0 victory in 2024.
 
Easton Dowell, a redshirt sophomore, exploded offensively for the blue and gold with a walk-off home run in the 10^th inning Saturday night followed by a near-perfect 4-for-5 outing on Sunday in which he earned three singles, a double, and three RBIs. He actively leads the team with an average of .375.
 
Simon Larranaga (senior) and Mack Brousseau (sophomore) look to extend their hitting streaks of nine games, dating back to the series finale against Nicholls. Heading into the weekend, the longest hitting streak of the season was six game reached by three players.
 
Following the meetings, McNeese will take to the road as it resumes conference play in Hammond against Southeastern who sits undefeated in SLC action and second in the standings.
 
Series Preview
• McNeese has won all six meetings since the programs first met in 2020 in a four-game series.
• The Cowboys defeated the Delta Devils 6-0 in Lake Charles during the 2024 season.
• McNeese has scored 71 runs against MVSU, averaging 11.83 runs per game.
• Coach Hill is 1-0 against Coach Bilbrey.
 
McNeese Notes
• Coach Hill is off to his best start at the helm with a 14-4 start and the Cowboys' best start since 2000 when the program started 15-4.
• McNeese defeated ULL on the road for the first time since 2019 and completed the season sweep for the first time since 2003.
• The Cowboys were ranked 24th in the 11Point7 College Baseball Week 3 Power Rankings. UTRGV and Southeastern are currently ranked 16th and 18th respectively.
• McNeese tied a program record for runs scored in an inning with its 12-run bottom of the sixth against Dillard that has remain unmatched since the Cowboys did so against Texas State in 1999.
• Seth Fontenot went 2-for-3 with two RBI singles and a walk in his first start followed up by going 3-for-4 with an RBI in his second start.
• Easton Dowell leads the team with a .375 average on the season with Larry Edwards Jr. (.361) and Davis Meche (.320) also hitting over .300.
• McNeese has claimed two shutouts on the season with the first being a 1-0 win over Oakland (Game 1) before defeating UL-Lafayette 3-0 at home in a midweek duel.
• The Pokes are 30th in the nation in ERA at 3.76 and third in the Southland. The squad's 2.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio is ranked 25th in the nation and atop the SLC.
• McNeese is tied 25th in the nation with two shutouts. 
• McNeese is ranked 22nd in the nation with eight triples.
• The third inning has been critical for McNeese as they are undefeated when leading after the third and have lost all four games when trailing after the third.
• By sweeping Nicholls 3-0, it marks the first time since 2021 the Cowboys have opened conference with a series sweep when they swept Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• McNeese swept Oakland 3-0 in the teams' first ever meeting.
• Alexis Gravel was named the Week 2 SLC Pitcher of the Week after his 12 strikeout performance against Oakland in the series opener.
• McNeese had back-to-back walk-off victories against Oakland with Mack Brousseau hitting walk-off solo home run Saturday and Matt Stancliff hitting a walk-off RBI single with the bases loaded Sunday.
• McNeese's series wins over Oakland and Wichita State are the first in program history for each respective school.
• The Cowboys return 18 members from the 2024 roster and added 23 over the offseason headed into 2025.
 
McNeese Notes (cont.)
• Coach Hill guided the Pokes to a 32-27 record on the 2024 season to mark his ninth season of earning 30+ wins in a season.
• Conner Westenburg was named to the Southland Preseason All-Conference First Team.
• Simon Larranaga earned recognition on the SLC Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
• Peyton McLemore was added to the coaching staff as an assistant coach/pitching coordinator while Peyton LeJeune also joined as a Student Assistant Coach.
 
Scouting the Opponent
• The Delta Devils have garnered four victories on the season with one against Alcorn and three in a sweep against Arkansas Baptist College.
• Eric Williams and Tanner Aoki are hitting .333 and .324 respectively to lead the Dela Devils.
• The Delta Devils were swept by Texas Southern 3-0 to begin conference play.
• MVSU has canceled 11 games on the 2025 season.
 
Last Time Out
• McNeese defeated Lamar in the series 2-1 after falling in the opening game.
• Lamar won the first game 8-7 before McNeese claimed the latter two 9-8 and 9-4 respectively.
• Brady Corcoran and Paul Coppinger each recorded their first victories with the Cowboys on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
• McNeese and Lamar had back-to-back 10-inning games on Friday and Saturday with each squad claiming one game.
• The 25 runs scored against Lamar are the most by the Cowboys in a three-game series this season.
• The series win is the fourth this season in five and second in conference play out of three.
• Easton Dowell hit .556 against the Cardinals with nine at-bats and five hits, recording a double and walk-off home run.
• Eight players making at least nine at-bats on the weekend hit over .300.