Hot Cowboys host HCU
Published 10:59 am Thursday, March 5, 2026
The Cowboys will try to build on their recent successes when they host their Southland Conference series this weekend at Joe Miller Ballpark.
Having won five of its last six, McNeese State’s baseball team has raised its record to 7-6 heading into its 3-game series against Houston Christian starting Friday night.
The Cowboys and HCU are both 2-1 in league play after opening up with series wins last weekend. McNeese traveled to Nicholls and won the first two games before falling in the finale.
The Cowboys bounced back to win their two midweek games, including a 12-2 win over LSU-Alexanderia on Wednesday night in Lake Charles. Danny Barbaro homered, doubled, and drove in four runs to lead McNeese’s attack, which has scored 26 runs over the last two games.
Barbaro leads the Southland in RBIs with 20 and runs scored at 15. He is now tied for second in home runs with four.
Barbaro is one of five Cowboys in the league’s top 16 in hitting at .373.
The Huskies, 6-7 overall, took 2 of 3 from Incarnate Word last week before falling to No. 3 Texas on Wednesday. First pitch Friday is set for 6 p.m.
“Houston Christian is a pretty good team,” said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. “They play exceptionally hard and are hard to strike out. Their offense is the main thing. They make pitchers work.”
McNeese will hope for another big start from Golden Cooper, who had his best outing last week at Nicholls. A lefty, Golden (1-1), allowed just one run on four hits over six innings. He struck out six and walked just one.
“That was big for us,” said Hill. “To get two six-inning starts last weekend to start the series was huge.”
Right-hander Eric Nachtsheim (2-0) is second in the Southland with a 0.64 earned run average.
“When we get good pitching, we are pretty tough to beat,” said Hill.
The Huskies will throw three right-handers at McNeese, led by David Lopez on Friday. Lopez is 2-1 with a 5.79 ERA. Joshua Caravalho (1-2, 11.25) will follow on Saturday, with Ben Smith (1-1, 6.43) slated to take the mound Sunday.
McNeese has not named a Sunday starter.
