For all the talk of parity in the Southland Conference, the two best teams will still decide the championship. 

Starting Thursday night, top-seeded and four-time regular-season champion McNeese State will host defending tourney champ and second-seed Southeastern in a best-of-3 series.

First pitch at Joe Miller Field is set for 6 p.m., and the winner will advance to the NCAA Tournament.

“We are excited to play for the championship,” said freshman pitcher Kadence Williams. “It is what we have been playing for this season.”

The two teams have combined to win the last four tournament titles. The Cowgirls (40-18) have won six of the previous eight and are looking to extend their record nine Southland championships.

Southeastern is attempting to repeat and win its second tourney title.

“They are a quality team and we are going to have to play clean softball to beat them this week,” Landreneau said. “The important thing is that we make them earn every base. We can’t give them extra bases.”

The Lions (46-13) will be looking to snap McNeese’s recent dominance in the series. The Cowgirls have won eight of the last nine meetings and have been dominant in Lake Charles. 

McNeese has won the last seven at home against Southeastern, including walking off the Lions to win the 2022 championship. The Cowgirls also swept last year’s series to end the regular season with the title on the line. 

This year, SELA won the first game in Hammond using the run rule, but McNeese rallied to take the final two games and capture the series. 

“It doesn’t matter what happened in the past; it matters what we do from here,” said Landreneau. “How we play this week is what will determine the games. Our focus is on what we do now.

“We have three games and you better win two.”

This will be a different type of softball from last weekend’s pod play, where power was the name of the game. This series should be about small ball, speed and pitching.

Southeastern easily led the league in hitting (.336) and pitching (2.16 ERA), but speed fuels the Lions. They ran away with the SLC stolen base title, stealing 87 more bags than the second-place finisher.

With the top four base stealers in the league, and six of the top 10, SELA swiped 193 bags in 228 tries, putting pressure on the Cowgirl defense.

“They will play fast, that’s for sure,” said Landreneau. “Our team will be ready for it.”

Chloe Mcgee and Shelby Morris lead the conference with 34 and 29 steals, respectively. 

On the mound, Southland Newcomer of the Year Macie LaRue leads the way with a 19-2 record and a 2.12 ERA. However, the Lions have a few arms they can count on.

“We have had different pitchers step up in the back half of the season, whether it was Macie, Britney Lewinski, Hallie Burns or Lainee Bailey,” Southeastern head coach Rick Fremin said. 

The Cowgirls will count on two freshmen, Williams and Pitcher of the Year Maddie Taylor.

With three straight walk-off wins, McNeese hopes to finish off their league dominance by earning an NCAA berth.

Game 2 is set for Friday night, with the deciding game to be Saturday if necessary.