McNeese State won the softball battle a year ago but lost the war.

The Cowgirls swept Southeastern the last weekend of the regular season to win their third straight title. They then watched the Lady Lions take the postseason tournament.

Now, Southeastern holds the cards, as the two meet this weekend for a three-game series in Hammond.

“It’s a big series for us,” said McNeese head coach Jame Landreneau. 

The Lions enter the weekend 31-8, 11-1, and with a two-game lead over the Cowgirls (23-16, 9-3). SELA comes in hot, winning nine straight and 19 of its last 21.

“They are a really good team and are playing very well,” said Landreneau. “They are going to be tough.”

The Cowgirls are coming off a 12-2 loss at home last Tuesday to No. 3 LSU. McNeese led 2-0 heading into the sixth when the Tigers scored 12 runs on 12 hits over the previous two innings.

“We have to flush that and get back to work,” said Landreneau. “It isn’t as much about who we are playing, it’s about how we are playing. We have to worry about us.”

Southeastern leads the SLC in both hitting and pitching. The Lady Lions hit at a .337 clip and have scored a league-high 262 runs, 66 more than second-place McNeese. 

They also have the lowest earned run average in the Southland by over a run at 1.81.

Maria Detillier leads SELA with a .400 batting average, which is good for third in the league. Her 41 runs batted in is tops in the South

land. 

McNeese counters with Jada Munoz, whose nine home runs are second and 36 runs scored first. 

Hailie Burns and Macie LaRue lead the Southeastern pitching staff. They are tied for the league lead with 1.72 ERAs. 

Burns was named the SLC Pitcher of the Week Monday and has a 10-2 record with a league-low .192 batting average against her. LaRue has struck out an SLC leading 85 and posted a 12-0 mark.

What Landreneu wants from his team is more consistency.

“We just have to play well,” Landreneau said. “It is about us. We want to play seven tough innings. We need to play seven mature innings. 

“We also have to be more efficient. We have to have better at-bats early in innings.”

The two teams will play a doubleheader on Friday starting at 4 p.m. to start the series. The series will wrap up on Saturday with a noon first pitch.

The teams were picked to finish first and second in the preseason, with the Lady Lions selected as the favorites.