Cowgirls try to secure No. 1 seed
Published 2:00 pm Friday, May 6, 2022
Special to the American Press
McNeese State will try to wrap up the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in next week’s Southland Conference softball championship when it visits last-place Nicholls State for a three-game series.
The series begins at 4 p.m. today with a doubleheader and ends with a 1 p.m. Saturday game.
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The Cowgirls (32-19, 12-3), who have won six of their last eight games, own a one-game lead over second-place Southeastern Louisiana (34-14,11-4). Northwestern State (28-17, 10-5) is two games back in third place. SLU hosts Northwestern State this weekend.
Nicholls (12-33) is one of three teams — Houston Baptist and Incarnate Word being the other two — tied for last place at 4-11. The Colonels are 1-6 at home.
“I have said all year that this team is talented,” said Cowgirls head coach James Landreneau. “They can score in different ways and play good defense; it is just putting all the phases together.
“Nicholls is a scrappy team who plays hard and they have had some good wins. They always plays us tough in Thibodaux so we know it will be a tough series. What we need to do is focus on ourselves and make sure we play clean softball.”
Jil Poullard leads the Cowgirls with a .677 slugging percentage, a .355 batting average with 29 walks, 11 doubles, four triples, seven home runs, and 37 RBIs. Alayis Seneca leads the team with 41 runs scored and 48 hits.
Kendall Talley (.333) has nine doubles. She and Toni Perrin are tied with a team-high 18 stolen bases.
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Ashley Vallejo (14-7, 2.17 ERA) has 108 strikeouts and seven shutouts in 108 innings. Whitney Tate (10-9, 3.76) has 42 strikeouts in 1041/3 innings.
Melise Gissen leads the Colonels with a .293 batting average and 15 doubles. Alexa Poché leads the Colonels with a .519 slugging percentage, 29 RBIs, and eight home runs.
Paris Lehman (5-13, 5.14) has two saves and 45 strikeouts in 1152/3 innings. With a 5.82 ERA, Brittney Turner (7-5, 5.82) leads the team with 49 in 22 starts and 1081/3 innings.
