LAKE CHARLES – Southland Conference co-leader McNeese will travel to take on UTRGV for a three-game league series in Edinburg, Texas beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Cowboys (29-8, 16-5 SLC) will be looking to win their seventh weekend league series on the season, eighth overall. UTRGV (26-14, 17-7) is a half-game behind McNeese and Southeastern in the conference standings with nine games remaining.
 
SERIES INFORMATION: at UTRGV
• Location: Edinburg, Texas
• Venue: UTRGV Baseball Stadium
                  • Friday, April 25 – 6:30 p.m. – ESPN+
                  • Saturday, April 26 – 6:30 p.m. – ESPN+
                  • Sunday, April 27 – 12 p.m. – ESPN+
 
PROBABLE PITCHING ROTATION
• Friday – LHP Cooper Golden (MCN) vs. LHP Victor Loa (UTRGV)
• Saturday – LHP Alexis Gravel (MCN) vs. RHP Wyatt Wiatrek (UTRGV)
• Sunday – TBA for both teams
 
TUNE IN
• Live Stats
• Video Links
                  • Friday at UTRGV (ESPN+)
                  • Saturday at UTRGV (ESPN+)
                  • Sunday at UTRGV (ESPN+)
 
NOTEBOOK
• McNeese returns to Southland Conference play this weekend when it visits UTRGV in a big showdown that could have not only championship implications, but also tournament host ramifications.
• The Cowboys are tied atop the conference standings with Southeastern at 16-5 but UTRGV is just a half game behind with a 17-7 record.
• McNeese is coming off a 4-3 loss to Louisiana Christian on Tuesday in a game that saw the Cowboys leave 13 runners on base, nine in scoring position, and coming up empty when loading the bases three different innings... UTRGV fell 10-2 to UIW in a non-conference contest.
• McNeese and UTRGV have met just seven times in history with the Cowboys holding a 5-2 lead in the series... they last faced off on Feb. 11, 2007 in Edinburg, a 9-7 UTRGV win.
• Head coach Justin Hill, in his 12th season, has compiled 362 career wins, the most in McNeese history and ranking 7th all-time in Southland Conference history and second-most among current league coaches (Scott Malone, AMCC with 435 wins).
• 8-1 in weekend series on the year and 6-1 in league weekend series.
• The Cowboys' pitching staff has struck out 10 or more batters 17 times this year, most recently vs. Louisiana Christian where five pitchers combined to K 15 batters.
• Struck out 10 or more in six league games with a high of 18 against Nicholls on Feb. 28.
• McNeese is 25-0 when leading after 6 innings; 19-1 with lead after 7; 21-0 when leading after 8.
• 19-2 when scoring 6 or more runs.
• Five run-rule wins on the season, one in Southland play.
• Center fielder Conner Westenburg leads the nation with nine triples, also topping the Southland, and leads the league with 23 stolen bases, 32nd in the NCAA.
• His triples total is tied as the 2nd-most in a season in school history and three off the record of 12 (Brig Taylor, 1996).
• Shortstop Easton Dowell tops the conference with a .414 batting average and is looking to become the first Cowboy to hit .400 or better since the 2001 season when Kevin Mitchell hit .401... the school record is .431 by Amos Ivey (1959) while the record since being a Division 1 school is .427 by Ben Broussard (1999)... Dowell is second in the Southland with 16 doubles.