Coming off a 2022 season that produced a Southland Conference regular-season title, conference tournament championship and two NCAA Tournament wins that resulted in the program’s first appearance in the championship round of a regional, McNeese State softball head coach James Landreneau said he’s hoping consistency can produce another successful season.

The Cowgirls open the season Friday when they host the Cowgirl Classic. They’ll play five games this weekend.

“We’re excited,” Landreneau said. “Almost year-round you put in time, you put in work and now we’re excited to get tested. I think the players are tired of having intrasquads against each other; they are ready to cheer for each other against someone else.”

Landreneau said he wants to see the Cowgirls play up to their potential more often this season.

“I would like to see if we can be better defensively, and if we can be a more consistent team,” he said.

“I think we had flashes of being a good team last year. Can we bring the level of focus we need to be successful? Our message is always that we can control effort, attitude and focus. Can those things be consistent every single day? We had patches that were really good, patches that were bad. Can we grow as a program and eliminate those patches?”

The Cowgirls return plenty of talent from a 40-21 team, including Ashley Vallejo, the conference pitcher of the year last season, as well as fellow starters Whitney Tate and Shaelyn Sanders. Crislyne Moreno, Jil Poullard, Alayis Seneca, Reese Reyna and Chloe Gomez are returning position players who started last year.

Landreneau said he has not set a starting lineup.

“There are positions up for grabs,” he said. “We thought we had the infield locked down, but Caleigh Cross suffered an ACL injury and will be out for the season. She was going to be our third baseman and was our most veteran infielder.”

Poullard is moving from third base to center field.

“We are going to let her be an athlete out there,” Landreneau said. “She covers a lot of ground, has a strong arm. The biggest thing we need from Jil right now is offensive production. We think she is a difference maker in the outfield for us so we will leave her there.”

Landreneau said the team can’t rest on last year’s accomplishments.

“We need to make sure that we are not content and realize this is a new team and they haven’t done anything,” he said. “We can’t rely or live on what other teams have done previously. We have been trying to make sure our team is locked in.

“What matters is the end-of-the-year poll, where you finish up. We have to stay away from the distractions, stay away from the noise of what happens before the season. It is about what we do day to day. The focus has been on learning something from every session we have.”

Once the games start, Landreneau said he wants to see a strong mental approach.

“The ability to stay focused for complete games, that is what we are looking for,” he said. “If we can get to that point, I think we have a talented team with a lot of depth that can have a really good season.”