The second Cowgirl Classic of the season will provide the McNeese State softball team a few more opportunities to post quality nonconference wins this weekend.

The Cowgirls will play Stephen F. Austin and Ole Miss twice each, which runs Friday through Sunday.

McNeese enters at 8-3 after a busy week that included six games in five days. During that stretch McNeese picked up four wins, including two over ranked teams, No. 22 North Texas and No. 12 Washington.

Onetime Southland Conference member SFA enters with a 6-7 record after splitting a doubleheader against Lamar on Tuesday. Ole Miss is 6-4 after going 2-2 at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge in Mexico, where the Rebels beat Liberty and Southern Illinois before losing to Cal State Fullerton and Kansas.

“Stephen F. Austin is solid,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “They have had games where they looked really good. We know they are going to pitch well and throw a couple of different arms at us, a righty-lefty combination.

“Ole Miss is an SEC team that has been in the (NCAA) tournament almost every year for the past five or six. We know they are going to be great.”

Landreneau said he wants the Cowgirls get back to their running ways after being shut out Tuesday by South Alabama.

“I’d like to see us get back to playing faster,” he said. “South Alabama was able to slow us down and keep us playing station to station. We didn’t have enough traffic on the bases. We have to play fast and apply pressure.”

Pitching has been a strong suit for McNeese with a team ERA of 1.75. Whitney Tate has led the way with a 4-0 record and 1.66 ERA in four starts.

“She reinvented herself a little bit, has a few new tools,” Landreneau said. “She is able to go up and down a little better. She has always had great poise and composure.

“Being able to train for an entire year (following a hip surgery before the 2022 season), she’s had consistency. You can tell she’s got her swagger back by the way she moves around the circle.”