LAKE CHARLES—McNeese softball (12-6), coming off 9-3 home loss against No. 17 LSU on Tuesday, will host Iowa (10-4) of the Big 10 this Thursday, Feb. 26 at Cowgirl Diamond.  First pitch is set for 3 p.m.  The Cowgirls will conclude their week with a three-game series at Baylor on the weekend.
 
Rylee Cloud continues to lead the Cowgirls at the plate with a .423 batting average and is tied for a team high five homeruns. Four other Cowgirls are batting above .300.  Nyjah Fontenot leads the team with 24 hits and is second on the team with a .393 average. Corine Poncho and Maddie Taylor are hitting .333 and Jada Muñoz has a .327 average.  Muñoz also has five homeruns on the season.
 
Freshman Brookelyn Taylor and Maddie Taylor are both 4-1 on the season.  Brookelyn has a 3.10 ERA with 23 strikeouts and Maddie has a 3.91 ERA with 14 strikeouts.
 
Heading into the game, McNeese ranks fifth in the nation in walks, 11^th in hits, 27^th in runs, 28^th in homeruns, 29^th in stolen bases
 
Iowa comes to Lake Charles having played all its games on the road up to this point and won't play their first home game until March 6.  The Hawkeyes will travel to Baton Rouge this weekend to take part in the LSU Invitational.