LAKE CHARLES – McNeese (19-5, 8-4 SLC) will continue a six-game home stand when it hosts Alcorn baseball (4-20, 0-9 SWAC) at Joe Miller Ballpark at 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. The Cowboys carry in a four-game winning streak dating back to the second game of the Southeastern series, coming off a pair of run-rule victories in last week's midweek games.

The Cowboys are off to their best start under the leadership of head coach Justin Hill with the 19-5 start and best in program history since the 1991 season. McNeese kicked off the season 24-5 that season en route to earning 34 wins on the season.
 
McNeese was recently slated 24^th in the 11Point7 Mid-Major Power Rankings, marking the second straight week in the Top 25 and third of the season. UTRGV (19) and Southeastern (23) join the Cowboys in the rankings as the only Southland representatives.  

All six midweek games for the Cowboys this season have resulted in wins for the Cowboys with half ending in seven-inning run rules.
 
Redshirt sophomore Easton Dowell leads the team offensively, hitting .405 with 32 hits on the season, earning nine doubles and five home runs in the process. Larry Edwards Jr., a junior, is batting .357, tallying 30 hits and a team-leading 10 doubles.

Senior Sergio Lopez has been a commanding presence on the mound, earning a 4-1 record with three saves, marking a decision in all but one game that he has appeared in. His ERA of 2.19 is the lowest on the squad with at least 24 innings pitched with Alexis Gravel, a fellow senior, owning a 3.03 ERA on the season and 3-1 record.

Following Alcorn, the Pokes will return to conference play, hosting New Orleans for a three-game series starting on Friday, April 4.
 
Series Preview
• McNeese is 7-0 all-time against Alcorn.
•The squads first met in 2019 and met twice in 2024 with the Pokes taking 9-7 and 11-4 victories in Lake Charles.
• All eight meeting have taken place at Joe Miller Ballpark.
 
McNeese Notes
• Coach Hill is off to his best start at the helm at 19-5 and the Cowboys' best start since 1991 when the program started 24-5.
• The Cowboys are ranked 24th in the 11Point7 College Baseball Week 7 Mid-Major Power Rankings. The squad had previously been ranked 25th in Week 6 and 24th in the Week 3 edition. UTRGV and Southeastern are currently ranked 19th and 23rd 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 .405 average on the season with Larry Edwards Jr. (.357) and Marcus Heusohn (.305) also hitting over .300.
• McNeese is ranked ninth in the nation with 11 triples.
• The Pokes are 33rd in the nation in ERA at 3.95 and fourth in the Southland. The squad's 3.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio is ranked 12th in the nation and atop the SLC.
• McNeese is tied 13th in the nation with three 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
• The Braves have earned a pair of wins over Arkansas Baptist College and Alabama A&M.
• Alcorn fell to Mississippi Valley State 3-0 over the weekend.
•Five batters with at least 50 plate appearances are batting over .300 for the Braves.
• Edwin Guzman leads the team with a 2.70 ERA over 13.1 innings of action, only allowing four earned runs.
• Alcorn has played two SLC opponents this season, falling 4-0 between Southeastern and Northwestern State.
 
Last Time Out
• McNeese is coming off a pair of run-rule victories over Southern and Dillard.
• Four run-rules by the Pokes are the most since the team recorded eight in 2022.
• The Cowboys recorded their third shutout of the season against Dillard.
• The team recorded 24 strikeouts, 26 hits, and 29 runs scored over the course of both games.
• McNeese had a bye week following the midweek duels.
• Blayne Fritcher and Alexis Gravel picked up wins for the pitching staff.