Cowboys back in the race

Published 10:22 am Tuesday, April 5, 2022

While it fell two outs short of being a clean sweep, the Cowboys put themselves back in the race last weekend in Thibodaux.

Taking 2 of 3 from conference-leading Nicholls flipped the Southland race around just two weeks into the season.

McNeese State is now one of three teams at 3-3 in the league with 15 games remaining.

The Cowboys are two back of Northwestern State and one behind Nicholls.

While it’s too early to say anything is trending this is also a very short season with just five weekends remaining. So there isn’t much time to waste either.

“Going to be a sprint to the finish,” said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. “It was important to get back to .500 in the league.”

Overall the Cowboys are 15-13 heading into a 4-game week that starts with a home game against Prairie View on Wednesday. Then it’s on to New Orleans for three over the weekend.

“I’m proud of how we played,” Hill said of the series against the Colonels. “We bounced back.”

McNeese started the conference season by losing its first two games at home to Houston Baptist.

Nobody was hotter last week than redshirt junior Payton Harden. The centerfielder went 7-for-18 (.389), including collecting his 200th career hit during the a game against Southern.

After a slow start to the season Haden has rallied and is hitting .348 and scored 23 runs while driving in 16. He is also 13 of 16 in stolen base attempts.

“Payton is a product of hard work and determination,” said Hill. “He is not a flashy player. He just puts in the work.

Harden will try to help the Cowboys continue to stay in the SLC race, which Hill believes will be close all year.

“I don’t think the league or host sites will be decided until the last day,” said Hill.

The league’s top two teams in the regular season will host four-team tournaments with the winners facing off for the title the following weekend.