LAKE CHARLES – McNeese baseball (25-23, 13-14) returns home to take on Northwestern State (25-21, 16-11) in its final home series of the season. First pitch for Thursday is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

The Cowboys are coming off a 2-1 conference series road win over Stephen F. Austin, taking game one 6-1 and game three 7-1. Eric Nachtsheim earned the win in the opener after tossing eight innings and striking out nine batters, bringing his season total to 105 strikeouts and tying him for fifth in program history for strikeouts in a single season. Offensively, McNeese recorded 17 runs on 26 hits over the weekend, including four doubles and eight home runs.

The Demons are coming off a 12-1 midweek loss at Louisiana Tech on Tuesday. Northwestern State's lone run came in the first inning on an RBI single by Joe Siervo that scored Ethan Menard. The Demons recorded three hits in the game, with Menard accounting for the team's only extra-base hit.

Series Information: vs Northwestern State

• Location: Lake Charles, Louisiana 
• Last 5 Meetings: 2-3
• Last Meeting: May 15, 2025, | Loss 7-6 at neutral site 

Records:

• McNeese (25-23, 13-14)
• Northwestern State (25-21, 16-11)

Promotions:

• Thursday 
  • Bark in the Park
  • Throwback Thursday (Retro Music during game) 
• Friday 
  • Military Appreciation ($5 Tickets for Active and Former Military Personnel) 
  • 1/2 Priced Beer (5-6:15pm)
• Saturday 
  • Senior Day
  • End of Semester Student Bash (free crawfish, shirts, enter to win jerseys, and 1/2 priced beer for students 21+) 

 
Gameday Notebook:

• Cowboys enter the series tied for 6^th place in the Southland Conference Standings
• McNeese coming off a 2-1 series win at Stephen F. Austin taking games one and three
• Eric Nachtsheim picked up his sixth win on the season in game one against SFA moving to 6-3 on the season
• With increasing his strikeout total to 105, Eric Nachtsheim sits tied for 5th place in program history for strikeouts in a season.
• Marcus Heusohn went 3-for-4 in game one against SFA with a home run and a double.
• Connor Achee picked up the win in game three of the series moving to 3-4 on the season
• Danny Barbero went 3-for-4 in game three against SFA with two home runs
• The Cowboy offense accounted for 17 runs on 26 hits over the weekend with four doubles and eight home runs.
• Korey Cooper hit his third home run on the season in game one against SFA.
• Marcus Heusohn hit his first home run of the season in game one against SFA
• Danny Barbero hit three home runs at SFA bringing his season total to 10 which leads the team.
• Marcus Heusohn hit his 13^th and 14^th double of the season against SFA and leads the team in doubles.
• Isaiah Keller hit his 7^th home run on the season in game three against SFA to put him tied for second with home runs on the team.
• DJ Pinkerton hit his 11th double on the season in Saturday's win over SFA. 
• Danny Barbero leads the team with 17 multi-hit games this season as well as 14 multiple RBI games on the season
• Matt Stancliff leads the team in multiple run games with 13 on the season
• Marcus Heusohn and Hayden Stringfellow will both enter the weekend series with an eight-game hitting streak.
• Easton Dowell will enter Wednesday's game with a reached safely and reached base streak of 15.
• Matt Stancliff leads the team in stolen bases with being 21 for 21 on the season
• Nachtsheim leads the pitching staff in strikeouts on the season with 105 in his 16 appearances.
• Cowboy pitching staff has recorded 469 strikeouts in 430.2 innings pitched this season.
• The pitching staff is now 50 strikeouts away from tying the record for strikeouts in a season set back in 2022 and 51 strikeouts away from setting a new record.
• 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 home runs 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 13^th 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.