HOUSTON, Texas – McNeese baseball takes the nation's fourth-longest win streak at eight games on the road to challenge Power Four opponent Houston 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Shroeder Park. The meeting is slated to be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats to follow along.
 
The Cowboys sit at 23-5, 11-4 in SLC play, and are off to their best start under the leadership of head coach Justin Hill and best since the program went 24-5 in 1991. The squad is tied for its longest win streak of the season, sitting tied for the fourth longest in the nation with third-ranked LSU and Cal Poly.
 
Houston owns an 18-13 record, sitting at 5-7 in Big 12 action, and will host Rice Tuesday night before the Pokes come to town.
 
McNeese was recently ranked 20^th in the latest edition of the 11Point7 Baseball Mid-Major Power Rankings, the third straight week making an appearance in the Top 25. Southeastern is the lone other SLC team in the rankings currently in 22^nd.

The blue and gold swept New Orleans at home for the first time since the 2018 season over the weekend to claim its sixth weekend series of seven on the season. Jake Blackwell, a junior, pitched in all three games to earn two victories and a save.
 
Seven different pitchers have recorded a start on the season with junior left-handed pitcher Cooper Golden leading the squad with eight starts. Six unique players have made a midweek start with freshman Diego Corrales being the lone one to appear twice in a midweek.
 
Senior Conner Westenburg is one of four players tied atop the nation in triples with six on the season. He further owns the third-best batting average for the blue and gold at .309, one of four batters hitting over .300 on the season.
 
McNeese will continue its five-game road trip against UIW for a three-games series starting Friday at 2:05 p.m.
 
Series Preview
• McNeese and Houston last met in May 2024 in Houston when the Cougars claimed a 9-8 extra-inning victory over the Pokes.
• Houston holds the series lead 53-17 all-time.
• Coach Hill and Coach Whitting have met 15 times, setting up the 16th meeting.
• Houston will travel to Lake Charles on April 29 for the home-and-home series.
• The squads have gone an even 3-3 against each other in the prior six meetings.
 
McNeese Notes
• Coach Hill is off to his best start at the helm at 23-5 and the Cowboys' best start since 1991 when the program started 24-5.
• The Cowboys are ranked 20th in the 11Point7 College Baseball Week 8 Mid-Major Power Rankings. The squad has been ranked for three consecutive weeks this season and four weeks overall. Southeastern joins the Pokes from the SLC in 22nd.
• McNeese has taken six series over opponents this season in seven opportunities, most recently sweeping New Orleans at home over the weekend.
• The Cowboys scored a season-high 21 runs against Alcorn, the most the offense has produced in a game since 2022.
• McNeese is tied for the nation's fourth-longest winning streak at eight games, tying the longest winning streak under Coach Hill and longest of the season.
• McNeese has outscored opponents 78-24 over its last seven 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 .424 average on the season with Larry Edwards Jr. (.350), Conner Westenburg (.309), and Davis Meche (.304) also hitting over .300.
• McNeese is ranked 13th in the nation with 13 triples and leads the Southland. Arizona leads the nation with 20.
• The Pokes are 23rd in the nation in ERA at 4.03 and third in the Southland. The squad's 3.11 strikeout-to-walk ratio is ranked eighth in the nation and atop the SLC.
• McNeese is tied 16th in the nation with three shutouts. 
• Conner Westenburg is tied for the most triples in the nation with six and leads the SLC.
• Cooper Golden has started eight games, tied for the 19th 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.
• 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
• Houston took a 2-1 weekend series over conference opponent Baylor on the road.
• Houston hosts Rice Tuesday night as part of a stretch the Cougars will play five games in six days.
• Xavier Perez is one of two batters over .300 at .366 with 37 hits on the season. 18 of those have come in the form of extra bases.
• Defensively, Houston has the 33rd most double plays in the nation with 26.
• Houston will return to Big 12 action on the weekend when they host West Virginia.
 
Last Time Out
• McNeese swept New Orleans 3-0 over the weekend, taking the series finale with a walk-off single by Easton Dowell.
• The Pokes defeated the Privateers 8-5, 10-8, and 3-2 over the weekend.
• Jake Blackwell had a breakout weekend as a Cowboy, earning two victories on the mound as well as a save on Saturday afternoon.
• Parker Primeaux recorded his second win of the season Saturday.
• Easton Dowell batted .500 with six hits on the weekend, earning two doubles and a triple on the weekend.
• Six of seven pitchers to throw at least 2.0 innings recorded an ERA of 2.70 or lower on the weekend.
• McNeese outscored UNO 21-15 over the series.