THIBODAUX – McNeese will look to build off its mid-week win over No. 1/2 LSU when it opens Southland Conference play against Nicholls with a three-game series beginning Friday at 6.

The series will continue on Saturday with a 6 o'clock start and conclude on Sunday at 2. Friday and Sunday games will broadcast on ESPN+

The Cowboys (3-5) are coming off a midweek win over the Tigers by a score of 7-6 for their second win over a top-ranked team in school history. In that game, freshman pitcher Jairus Miller posted a stellar performance on the mound, holding the high-powered Tigers' offense to no runs and just one hit while throwing the second through fourth innings. He fanned five batters in the process to earn his first collegiate win.  
 
Nicholls (4-6) is coming off a mid-week mercy-rule win over Dillard University by a score of 16-2. Prior to that game, the Colonels took three out of four games against UT Martin in a four-game weekend series. 
 
Series Information: vs Nicholls

• Location: Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field | Thibodaux, LA 
• Last 5 Meetings: 4-1
• Last Meeting: March 2,2025 | McNeese, 14-3 in Lake Charles

Records:

• McNeese (3-5,0-0)
• Nicholls (4-6,0-0)

Gameday Notebook:

• Cowboys swept the Colonels last season at home.
• Last time the Cowboys lost to the Colonels in Thibodaux was May 17, 2024
• Coming into the game with a 2-0 record on the road
• Second consecutive road game for McNeese as they are on a 5-game road stand before returning back home
• Coming off midweek win against #1/#2 LSU, 7-6 at The Box
• The win over LSU marks only the second win by the Cowboys over a top-ranked team in school history, with the first being against LSU in 2019
• Was led at the plate by Larry Edwards Jr. who went 2 for 4 with one walk and one RBI. 
• True freshman, Jairus Miller, pitched a career high three innings while only allowing one hit, while walking one and striking out a career high five.
• Jairus Miller also picked up his first collegiate win against LSU
• Brady Corcoran picked up his first save of the season, and second of his career against LSU
• Hayden Stringfellow and Matt Stanciff will enter the weekend on a 3-game hitting streak
• Eric Nachtsheim leads the pitching staff in strikeouts on the season with 14 recorded in three appearances.
• Marcus Heusohn has a reached base streak of six and a reached safely streak of six.
• Bryce Fontenot leads the team in batting average with .455 with five hits in eleven at bats, three doubles, and one home run.
• Hayden Stringfellow is second on the team in batting average with .406 but leads the team in hits with 13 on the season.
• Matt Stancliff leads the Cowboys with six stolen bases
• The Cowboys offense accounted for 7 hits, 2 doubles, and 6 RBI's in their midweek against LSU.
• The Cowboys return three of their top four hitters from the 2025 campaign, highlighted by Easton Dowell, who led the team with a .369 batting average. Marcus Heusohn also returns after posting a .327 average and 15 doubles, the third-most on the team, while Larry Edwards Jr. hit .316 and drove in a team-high 47 runs.
• Simon Larranaga returns to the Cowboys after leading them last season in homeruns with 12 on the year.
• Cooper Golden returns as the lone weekend starter from last season after compiling a 3-3 record and 4.71 ERA in 14 starts and 15 appearances. 
• Cowboys will play 32 home games this season.
• Head Coach, Justin Hill is entering his 13th season at the helm of the program and is the school's all-time winningest coach with a 365-284 overall record and 180-143 conference record.
• Cowboys return 20 players from last year's team, as well as welcome 21 newcomers to the roster.
• The 21 newcomers for the Cowboys hail from Bossier Parish CC (5), Navarro College (3), Rose State College, LSU-E, National Park College, Hill College, Butler, UNLV, Tyler Juco (2), Delgado CC, Central Missouri, Mississippi College, UT Tyler, and High School (2).
• Three of the Cowboys' opponents this season advanced to the NCAA Regionals last year – Kansas, Houston Christian, and LSU, who won the College World Series against Coastal Carolina.