LAKE CHARLES – McNeese baseball returns home to host a pair of midweek games at Joe Miller Ballpark against Southern Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Dillard Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. The Cowboys bring in a 17-5 (8-4 SLC) record while the Jaguars sit at 9-12 (2-4 SWAC) and the Bleu Devils at 14-12 (9-6 RRAC) with both games slated to be streamed on ESPN+.
 
The Cowboys are coming off a 2-1 series victory over Southeastern, handing the last undefeated Southland team its first two losses of the season. The series is the Pokes' fifth claimed on the season of six played.
 
11Point7 recently ranked McNeese 25^th in its most recent Mid-Major Power rankings, the second time the squad's been ranked this season in the poll, being placed 24^th in the third week's edition of the rankings.
 
McNeese and Southern played two games during the 2024 season with the Pokes victorious in both, the first a 4-3 14-inning showing followed by a 14-4 seven-inning run rule.
 
Dillard comes to The Jeaux for the second time this season with the first resulting in the Cowboys coming out on top 19-6 in seven innings. McNeese tied a program record in the performance with a 12-run bottom of the sixth.
 
Following the week, McNeese will take a weekend off before returning to action on April 1 against Alcorn at Joe Miller Ballpark.
 
Series Preview (Southern)
• McNeese holds the all-time series lead 26-15-1, winning the last seven matchups.
• The Cowboys are 18-10-1 when playing the Jaguars at home.
• The teams met twice last season, the first meeting a 4-3 win in 14 innings and the latter a 14-4 victory in seven innings.
• McNeese and Southern first met in the 1971 season.
• Coach Hill holds a 6-0 record when facing Coach Crenshaw.

Series Preview (Dillard)
• McNeese and Dillard met for the first time in program history earlier this season with the Cowboys coming out on top 19-6 in seven innings.
• The Cowboys tied a program record 12 runs scored in one inning against the Bleu Devils.
 
McNeese Notes
• Coach Hill is off to his best start at the helm at 17-5 and the Cowboys' best start since 1991 when the program started 24-5.
• The Cowboys are ranked 25th in the 11Point7 College Baseball Week 6 Mid-Major Power Rankings. The squad had previously been ranked 24th in the Week 3 edition. UTRGV and Southeastern are currently ranked 19th and 22nd respectively.
• The third inning has been critical for McNeese as they are undefeated when leading after the third and have lost four games when trailing after the third.
• Easton Dowell leads the team with a .375 average on the season with Larry Edwards Jr. (.338) also hitting over .300.
• McNeese is ranked 23rd in the nation with nine triples.
• The Pokes are 37th in the nation in ERA at 4.01 and fourth in the Southland. The squad's 2.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio is ranked 24th in the nation and atop the SLC.
• McNeese is tied 35th in the nation with two shutouts. 
• 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.
• McNeese defeated ULL on the road for the first time since 2019 and completed the season sweep for the first time since 2003.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 (Southern)
• Southern is coming off a 2-1 series loss to Prairie View A&M.
• The Jaguars are 0-3 against common opponents this season, falling to UIW (11-19), UL-Lafayette (5-7), and LSU (1-13).
• Cardell Thibodeaux and Taj Bates own batting averages over .400 at .459 and .411 respectively.
• Thibodeaux has hit a team-high eight doubles and eight home runs.
• Ranard Grace and Nick Luckett own the team's lowest ERAs of 4.40 and 4.59 respectively. 
 
Scouting the Opponent (Dillard)
• Dillard is 5-3 since last facing the Cowboys.
• The Bleu Devils swept Tougaloo (MS) over the weekend 3-0.
• McNeese is the lone D1 opponent Dillard will face this season.

Last Time Out
• McNeese claimed its second conference series in a row after falling in the Friday series opener against Southeastern.
• Larry Edwards Jr. (.333) and Matt Stancliff (.300) joined Marcus Heusohn (.455) in hitting .300+ on the weekend.
• Diego Corrales and Paul Coppinger each recorded their first saves of the season on the weekend.
• Sergio Lopez earned his fourth victory of the season and Parker Morgan earned his first.
• Cole Plowman hit 3-for-4 after starting for the Cowboys, scoring two runs with a double and a home run.
• SLU was ranked 18th in the 11.7 Mid-Major Power ranking when McNeese defeated them 2-1 in the series.
• The Cowboys fell 0-6 Friday night before taking offensively powered 10-9 and 7-1 victories on Saturday and Sunday.
• Diego Corrales earned 8 strikeouts in his relief outing Sunday with Parker Morgan starting the game with 6 strikeouts.