After ending an up-and-down nonconference portion of the season on a high note, the McNeese State Cowgirls open Southland Conference play with the first of a three-game softball series at Texas-A&M-Corpus Christi beginning with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. today.

The Cowgirls (13-14) are coming off an 8-5 win over Southern Mississippi on Wednesday. The Islanders (10-17) have lost their last six games.

McNeese finished third in the conference regular season last year with an 18-9 record but won the conference tournament.

Cowgirls head coach James Landreneau said he likes how the team is playing heading into league play.

“(Wednesday) was a good outing for us offensively,” he said. “The biggest thing is I wanted to see us play clean softball. Defensively we played really good, had some double plays and made some really nice plays. We showed composure at the end after they got back in the game, answered them with a run.

“This team is resilient. They are tough, play hard, have a lot of want-to and belief. Mentally we are in a good spot heading into conference play.”

Landreneau said the Islanders can’t be overlooked.

“They like to put pressure on you, manufacture some runs,” he said. “They have had some really good wins. They’ve beaten Baylor. They have played some teams close and have kept opponent run totals down. They pitch well and are hard to score on.”

Freshmen Crislyne Moreno and Kennedy Reynolds have provided a boost to the middle of the Cowgirls batting order the past few weeks. Since moving into the starting lineup eight games ago, Moreno has 10 hits and seven runs batted in. Reynolds has three hits, a home run and three RBIs over the last two games.

“Moreno is playing like a veteran, having good at-bats and being composed,” Landreneau said. “She has had some big hits for us the past couple of games and is growing. Reynolds has come in behind her and added some pretty good swings, some good at-bats. I like the way that part of the lineup is starting to mature.”