Reese Reyna is back on track, and so are the Cowgirls.

At least for one night, for sure.

Reyna, who struggled early last season, came through with a big hit Thursday night, then used her legs to secure another run as McNeese rallied to win its home opener, 6-4, at Joe Miller Field.

Reyna’s single to right in the bottom of the fifth broke a 3-3 tie with Texas-Arlington. She then raced home moments later on the back side of a perfectly played double steal dropped down by Brylie Fontenot. 

“I just read the play,” said Reyna. “I was never stopping.”

The Cowgirls improved to 4-2 with the win, while the Mavericks fell to the same mark.

The victory was also the 302nd of James Landreneau’s career, all at McNeese. That tied for the program record with Scott Eastman. 

“I’m not really thinking about that,” said Landreneau. “I’m really proud of this team. We got down but we kept up our energy and always believed.”

Kaitlyn Sailor provided the Mavericks with all their offense. She blasted a solo home run in the first and a 2-run shot in the third, both to center field. That gave UTA the early 3-0 lead and chased McNeese starter Ryan Schexnayder from the circle.

Freshman Maddie Taylor replaced Schexnayder and allowed just two hits and a run over the final 4⅓ innings.. She got Sailor to ground out to end the game after falling behind 3-0 with a runner on second.

“Taylor came in and was outstanding,” said Landreneau. “I thought she was commanding both sides of the plate and showed composure.”

Taylor improved to 2-0 with the win.

The Cowgirls had chances to score early. In both the first and third, they had runners in the second and third but could not get the big hit. 

McNeese finally broke through in the fourth when a pair of walks and a hit batter loaded the bases to start the inning. After Onna McElroy drove in the first Cowgirl run with a fielder’s choice.

McElroy immediately followed by stealing second before freshman Kassidy Chance doubled in two runs to tie the game 3-3. Reyna, who was hit by a pitch and scored in the inning, appeared to hit a 2-run homer of her own but the ball was ruled foul. 

“I could not tell if it was fair or foul, I was running down to first,” Reyna said. 

In the fourth, she came up with the score tied and runners on first and second with one out. She slapped a hard single to right that scored Jada Munoz, who was on second with her second double of the night. Munoz scored ahead of the throw while Reyna raced into second behind Rylie Bouvier, who moved from first to third.

That set up the double squeeze.

“I was just trying to read one pitch at a time and put a good swing on the ball,” said Reyna. “I was just going on the pitch with the sacrifice and just kept running.”

The Cowgirls will jump up in competition Friday when they host No. 6 Tennessee for a pair of games starting at 5 p.m. Last year, four-time national champ Oklahoma swept two games in Lake Charles.

“We want to play the best teams we can,” said Landreneau. “We want to find out early what we need to work on. It’s also one of the reasons kids want to play here, to go against those teams.”