A mature approach to the game by his team has McNeese State softball head coach James Landreneau confident big things are in store for the Cowgirls in the second half of the regular season.

The Cowgirls host Houston at 6 p.m. today in their final game before the start of Southland Conference play this weekend.

McNeese will open league play with a three-game series against Incarnate Word.

The Cowgirls are 15-9 after splitting four games against Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe last week.

Landreneau said he likes how the Cowgirls handle adversity.

“The conversation after a loss is very mature,” he said. “They understand where they can get better. You hear that conversation before I bring it up. The communication and the education of how they are thinking gives me a lot of hope in this team. They are thinking the game correctly.

“When you are playing a lot of young players and players that are playing a position for the first time, there are growing pains there.

“Some of our players have been through it before, some of them haven’t. They are trying to figure out the ups and downs of a college season, playing this many games in a row at this intensity. When they show up after a win or a loss, I don’t see a difference. I see the same energy, the same belief. That tells me that we have a team that is mentally tough and that they are prepared and ready for the battles that conference is going to bring you.”

Discipline at the plate is an area that needs improvement, Landreneau said.

“When we swing at good pitches we are a pretty good offensive team,” he said. “We need to have good, mature at-bats and grow in that facet of the game. I would like to see us apply more pressure from the offensive side this week.”

Landreneau said he expects a test for the Cowgirls tonight.

“We want to play well, it seems like it is always a one-run or extra inning game with (Houston),” he said.

“I want to see us play clean. From the offensive side I would like to see us have good at-bats. Sometimes we are getting caught up in the results. We need to get back to being process-oriented, make sure we are in control of ourselves and find good pitches to swing at.”