Tough night for Cowgirls

Published 10:07 pm Tuesday, February 24, 2026

The Cowgirls picked a bad time to have a bad night.

Freshman Brookelyn Taylor, who was named the Southland Conference’s Pitcher of the Week Monday, struggled to find the plate on Tuesday. McNeese also made a few misplays on defense and on the bases early.

No. 17 LSU took advantage, capitalizing early and often in a 9-3 victory over the Cowgirls at Joe Miller Field.

The loss dropped McNeese to 12-6 while LSU improved to 13-4. 

The game marked the halfway point of a 10-game stretch against Power 4 teams. The Cowgirls are 3-2 in those games and 4-4 on the season.

“We did not play very clean,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “We have to learn from this and have a quick turnaround.

“There is still a lot of softball to play, so this doesn’t make or break our season. We also can’t act like it didn’t happen.”

Char Lorenz hit a pair of home runs to lead a 10-hit Tiger attack that was helped by 11 walks, four of which scored. Lorenz hit solo shots in the third and fourth, giving her three on the season. 

The first one was off Taylor, who allowed five runs in 2⅓ innings. Taylor walked seven of the 17 batters she faced, losing her first game in five decisions. She also has three saves.

“That’s very uncharacteristic of her,” said Landreneau. “She has been in these situations and has come through. She will get another chance back out there. We just have to be able to control the zone better.”

While the Tigers were scoring eight runs in the first four innings, McNeese was leaving runners on base. Five of their first eight hitters reached, but they could not score.

“We have to be able to come up with the timely big hit,” said Landreneau. “Our kids are not going to quit.”

The Cowgirls scored a run in the fourth and then, down 9-1, avoided an early ending with two in the fifth. Nyjah Fontenot followed Maddie Weeks’ leadoff single with a home run to dead center, her second of the year. 

Jayden Heavener went the distance for LSU, improving her record to 5-2. She allowed three runs on six hits while walking seven and striking out 11. Heavener threw 156 pitches on the night.

The Cowgirls will try to get back on track Thursday when they host another Power 4 program, Iowa, out of the Big Ten. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. as the Hawkeyes (10-4) will head to Baton Rouge for a tournament over the weekend.

Iowa is led by McKenzie Leitgen, who is hitting .394 with six home runs and 14 runs batted in. Tory Bennett follows Leitgen at .385 with four homers, 11 RBIs, and 12 runs scored.

McNeese will continue to play big schools as it heads to Baylor for a 3-game series beginning Saturday. 

McNeese took three out of four last weekend against the Big 12’s Houston and the SEC’s Missouri. 

“I think it is good to play these types of games,” said Landreneau. “We didn’t plan on playing them all in a row; it just kind of worked out that way. We want to play them sometime.”