Measuring stick: Chance for Cowgirls to do more than play national powers — it’s time to win
Published 8:47 pm Friday, May 21, 2021
Warren Arceneaux
In the regular season, the McNeese State Cowgirls softball team showed they were good enough to play with the nation’s best. Starting today, the Cowgirls will see if they have improved enough to win against the best.
The Cowgirls (34-24) will play LSU (32-19) in the opening game of the Baton Rouge Regional of the NCAA Tournament. McNeese is the fourth seed while LSU is the No. 1 seed. The region also features No. 2 Louisiana-Lafayette (44-10) and No. 3 George Washington (37-9).
Both LSU (No. 16) and ULL (No. 17) are ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll. McNeese went 0-3 against those teams in the regular season and 1-14 against all ranked teams.
Both losses to ULL were among the six losses to ranked teams that came by two or fewer runs.
Cowgirls head coach James Landreneau said his team has improved since the start of the season, when most of those losses took place.
“I think we are a different team right now,” he said. “We are more consistent. That is what I hope to see this weekend, that we have learned from those close losses we had against top teams earlier this year and figured out how to win. That is going to be our challenge this week.
“Once you step on the field it doesn’t matter what you have done all year long, it is what you do during the tournament.”
The Cowgirls are coming off a perfect showing in the Southland Conference Tournament, winning all four games to earn the NCAA bid.
“I think we played well last week, but not necessarily our best,” Landreneau said. “We still had a couple of mistakes. I think we played really well in a lot of different phases, one being pitching. We pitched really well, had timely defensive plays, still had a few defensive mistakes. Offensively, we were kind of up and down through the weekend. Hopefully this week we are able to clean up a few mistakes we made and be a little bit better.”
While McNeese’s recent NCAA history has been good — the Cowgirls have won a game in each of their last three appearances — the Cowgirls are facing a pair of traditional powers in LSU and ULL.
“They are two great programs with great traditions,” Landrenau said. “LSU is a top-five team every year it seems like. They pitch it very well and have an explosive offense. When you talk about LSU, the history of what they’ve been able to do in the circle has been tremendous. The way they play at home has been tremendous.
“UL-Lafayette has great pride in their program. They are a scrappy team. They fight you, they fight hard. Their offense can be explosive at any time. We are facing two really good pitching staffs as well as two really good offenses. They will be well coached. They will play well. They are athletic; they can run. They are two quality teams.”
Landreneau said the Cowgirls staff spent the early part of the week learning about George Washington.
“We are trying to find as much information as we can,” he said. “We know they pitch it well. They have a pitcher (Sierra Lange) who commands the plate and is their go-to. They are a top-35 team and they have played a challenging schedule. It looks like they are a good defensive team with good pitching.”
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The McNeese State softball team is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament or playing nationally ranked teams. But head coach James Landreneau says it’s time to see if the Cowgirls can take the next step and beat the major programs.
Rick Hickman / American Press
