LAKE CHARLES – McNeese baseball returns to Southland Conference action for the first time in two weeks against New Orleans at Joe Miller Ballpark, starting Friday at 6 p.m. in a three-game series during Tailgate Weekend. The series will continue at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday with all three being streamed on ESPN+.
 
The Cowboys ride a five-game win streak into the meeting, sitting at 20-5 (8-4 SLC) while the Privateers control a 15-12 (7-8 SLC) record. McNeese is off to its best start under head coach Justin Hill and since the 1991 campaign while New Orleans' head coach Dax Norris is in his inaugural season at the helm.
 
McNeese's offense has been shining through its prior four games, outscoring opponents 57-9 over that time span. Easton Dowell, a redshirt sophomore, is batting .413 through 25 games appeared in and 24 starts while four other batters own an average over .300.
 
Left-handed pitchers Cooper Golden, a junior, and Alexis Gravel, a senior, are slated to make the starts on Friday and Saturday respectively. They will face right-handed pitchers Grant Edwards and Skylar Jones respectively. Gravel owns three wins on the season in six starts while Golden has claimed one win on the season.
 
Senior Sergio Lopez has been critical for the Cowboys out of the bullpen, recording a 4-1 record on the campaign with three saves over 24.2 innings pitched.
 
McNeese is hosting its inaugural Tailgate Weekend where we encourage fans to come and tailgate all weekend along Blue & Gold Dr. in either the grass lot or in lot A. It is free of charge to use these spaces.
 
On Friday, the McNeese Alumni Association will sponsor its second annual Fireworks Friday with the show starting approximately five minutes following the game. On Saturday, there will be the Community Tailgate sponsored by Navarre Cadillac from 12pm-2pm in Alumni Grove, free for fans to attend.
 
Series Preview
• McNeese holds the series lead 38-30-1 all-time as the teams meet for the 70th time Friday night.
• The Cowboys took the 2023 series 2-1 when they played in Lake Charles. The Privateers won 2-1 when playing in New Orleans in 2024.
• The Cowboys own a 22-15 record when playing at Joe Miller Ballpark.
• Both squads first met in 1976 when the teams battled to a 7-7 tie.
• Marks the initial meeting of Coach Hill and Coach Norris at the helm.
 
McNeese Notes
• Coach Hill is off to his best start at the helm at 20-5 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 Cowboys scored a season-high 21 runs against Alcorn, the most the offense has produced in a game since 2022.
• McNeese has outscored opponents 57-9 over its last four games.
• 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 .413 average on the season with Larry Edwards Jr. (.371), Conner Westenburg (.310), Davis Meche (.310), and Marcus Heusohn (.301) also hitting over .300.
• McNeese is ranked 17th in the nation with 11 triples. Arizona leads the nation with 17.
• The Pokes are 26th in the nation in ERA at 3.95 and second in the Southland. The squad's 3.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio is ranked 10th in the nation and atop the SLC.
• McNeese is tied 14th in the nation with three shutouts. 
• Conner Westenburg is ranked second in the nation with five triples and leads the SLC.
• Cooper Golden has started seven games, tied for the 17th most in D1 Baseball.
• 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
• New Orleans is coming off a 20-9 seven-inning run rule over Southern Tuesday night.
• UNO swept UIW 3-0 earlier this season in conference play.
• UNO has defeated SFA and UIW in SLC action to claim two series.
• The Privateers clinched a series against ACC opponent Boston College 2-1 in the second week of the season.
 
Last Time Out
• Seven pitchers made an appearance against Alcorn with Parker Primeaux earning his first victory of the season.
• Nine batters recorded at least one hit as the team earned 16 against the Braves.
• Conner Westenburg scored five runs against Alcorn, the first time since 2022 a Cowboy has accomplished the feat.
• 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 staffs.