The honors came pouring in Monday for the McNeese State softball team, which won the Southland Conference regular season title over the weekend with a three-game sweep over Nicholls State.

The Cowgirls (35-19, 15-3) are the top seed for this week’s conference tournament, to be held today through Friday at North Oak park in Hammond. McNeese has an opening round bye and will play the winner of today’s game between No. 4 Northwestern State and No. 5 Incarnate Word at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Four Cowgirls were named first team all conference and the Cowgirls won three individual awards as Ashley Vallejo was named Pitcher of the Year, outfielder Kendall Talley was named Newcomer of the Year and James Landreneau was named Coach of the Year.

Vallejo led the league with nine wins and a 0.26 ERA in conference play. She won five games by shutout and allowed two earned runs in 53⅓ innings pitched.

“It’s exciting for our team,” Vallejo said. “We have put in so much effort and they have made it real easy for me to pitch. It’s an award for the team, not just for me.”

Talley, a transfer from UL-Lafayette, was third in the conference in batting average (.400), fourth in on base percentage (.492) and fifth in hit with 20.

“I’m thankful that I am surrounded by a bunch of good teammates that helped me receive this,” she said. “As soon as I got here I knew this is where I was meant to be.

“I felt very accepted when I got here and knew that I was going to be pushed. I knew everything was going to be competitive, but in a loving, family way.”

Landreneau led the Cowgirls to the seventh regular season title in school history and second under his leadership. He was also named Southland Coach of the Year in 2017.

He said assistant coaches Shellie Landry, Alyssa Denham and Cori McCrary deserved credit.

“There has never been a coach of the year without great players,” he said. “You have to have a great staff surrounding you. The job done by our young staff this year has been remarkable. They show up every day, they are able to keep positivity among the team, they buy into the system and help our players through the process. I wish the award was a coaching staff award instead of a head coach award.”

Joining Vallejo on the first team All Southland team are second baseman Caleigh Cross (.375), third baseman Jil Poullard (16 RBI, .475 on base, .574 slugging) and utility player Kaylee Lopez (.275, 9 RBI). Lopez made the first team for the third time.

Cowgirls named to the second team include first baseman Crislyne Moreno, catcher Gracie Devall, and outfielders Alayis Seneca and Talley.

Barbe graduate Aeriyl Mass, an outfielder at Southeastern Louisiana, was a first team selection for the second straight year. She led the conference in hits (65) and stolen bases (29) while finishing fourth in hitting at .401.