LAKE CHARLES – McNeese rose four spots in the week eight edition of the 11Point7 Baseball Mid-Major Rankings to 20^th, its highest ranking of the season, to become the top ranked Southland Conference squad.
 
The Cowboys own a 23-5 record on the season, sitting at 11-4 in SLC action to hold second place in the standings, rising three spots over the weekend. McNeese swept New Orleans at home for the first time since the 2018 season to claim its sixth weekend series of seven on the season.
 
McNeese extended its win streak to eight games with a walk-off performance against the Privateers Sunday to tie its longest streak of the season and under head coach Justin Hill's 12-season tenure.
 
Redshirt sophomore Easton Dowell continued to be a powerhouse hitter for the Pokes over the prior week, batting .538 over that time span to raise his season average to .424. He's tallied 12 doubles, five home runs, and a triple on the season while bringing home 25 runs.
 
Jake Blackwell, a junior, assisted the Cowboys in a big way over the weekend by recording his first two wins of the season and a save over the weekend, appearing in all three games against UNO. Graduate student Parker Primeaux earned the win on Saturday.
 
Joining the blue and gold in the rankings from the Southland is Southeastern in 22^nd whom the Pokes defeated 2-1 in Hammond two weekends ago in the series.
 
McNeese returns to action Wednesday afternoon at 6:30 p.m. against Houston at Schroeder Park.
 
Week 8 11Point7 Mid-Major Power Rankings
1. UC Irvine
2. Troy
3. Coastal Carolina
4. Western Kentucky
5. Southern Miss
6. Dallas Baptist
7. Grand Canyon
8. Cal Poly
9. UTSA
10. FAU
11. Creighton
12. Liberty
13. Hawaii
14. South Florida
15. UC Santa Barbara
16. Stetson
17. ETSU
18. Xavier
19. East Carolina
20. McNeese
21. Tulane
22. Southeastern
23. Charlotte
24. Charleston
25. Austin Peay