Munoz, Cowgirls won’t share title
Published 8:31 pm Saturday, April 26, 2025
Jada Munoz wasn’t in the sharing mood.
So when she had the chance, the junior third baseman from McNeese did what she does best.
Munoz blasted a 3-run homer in the top of the sixth to lift the Cowgirls to a sweep of Stephen F. Austin Saturday in Nacogdoches, Texas. It was her 14th home run of the season and powered McNeese to a 4-2 win in the second game of a doubleheader.
The Cowgirls also won the first game, 6-1. The wins, along with Southeastern’s split against Nicholls earlier Saturday, made history for the Cowgirls.
For the fourth straight season, McNeese is the Southland Conference softball regular-season champ. With one game left Sunday, they have a 36-18, 22-4 record.
SELA finished the season at 21-6 while SFA fell to 26-26, 14-12.
“It is very rewarding,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “To see how far this team has come and how much adversity it had to overcome, I am just really excited for them.”
Both McNeese and the Lady Lions will host pods when the SLC opens postseason play Thursday. However, the Cowboys, by way of clinching the top seed, would be at home as well if they could survive the first weekend.
Munoz had a huge day. In the two games, she had three hits, drove in six runs, and scored three.
McNeese was down 2-0 after the Lady Lumberjacks scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth after two outs. Twice in the inning, umpires reviewed their calls without going to replay, which helped lead to the SFA rally.
The Cowgirls started their comeback in the fifth when Onna McElroy singled in Reese Reyna from second. Renya had doubled earlier in the frame.
In the sixth, a pair of one-out hits put runners on the corners for Munoz, who delivered.
Mikaelah Burkland homered to lead off the bottom of the seventh, but Ryann Schexnayder (6-1) got the next three batters to earn the win in relief.
Freshman Maddie Taylor improved her record to 16-7 by going the distance in the opener. Taylor allowed just five hits, walked two and struck out three.
Munoz drove in two insurance runs with a two-out double in the top of the seventh to clinch the game and chase SFA ace left-hander Alexis Telford from the mound. Telford’s record fell to 10-7 with the loss.
McNeese scored three times in the seventh after adding a run in the sixth to keep SFA from any comeback. Munoz finished 2-for-3 and drove in three runs and scored two to lead the Cowgirl offense.