Sweeping up the Cards
Published 3:14 pm Saturday, March 7, 2026
McNeese routs Lamar to open SLC play
After coming from behind twice Friday, the Cowgirls worked much quicker Saturday afternoon at Joe Miller Field.
Trying to beat the rain, McNeese State moved the series finale up to noon against Lamar and promptly swept the Lady Cardinals back over Beaumont, Texas.
McNeese captured the Battle of the Border with an 8-0, 5-inning victory, giving the Cowgirls a 3-0 start to their chase for an unprecedented fifth-straight Southland Conference regular-season championship.
“I feel like we played really good softball today,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “We played clean softball and got some timely hitting.”
Malayna Daigle ended the contest early with a 3-run, pinch-hit triple down the line in left field in the bottom of the fifth. It was McNeese’s second pinch-hit of the inning and third straight over the last two games.
With the victory, McNeese improved to 19-7 overall while winning its fourth straight and seventh of its last eight. The Cowgirls also moved to 13-5 at home while Lamar fell to 11-13, 0-3.
Alexis Dibbley and Rylee Cloud continued their hot hitting, each picking up a pair of hits. Dibbley had two doubles and scored a pair of runs. Over her last five games, she is 8-for-12 (.667) with three homers, two doubles, scored seven runs and drove in six.
“It took a lot of adjustments to get here,” said Dibbley, who missed most of last season with an injury. “I wasn’t being the player I could be.”
Cloud drove in a pair of runs, one in the first and another in the fourth, with her hits. McNeese finished with 8 hits.
The Cowgirls scored three times in the first on two hits, which was more than enough for right-hander Brookelyn Taylor. The freshman picked up her second win of the weekend and improved to 7-2 with the win.
She worked out of trouble in both the first and third, as Lamar put runners at the corners and cleanup hitter Cala Wilson batting. Taylor got Wilson to ground into a double play in the first and popped up to shortstop in the third.
“I knew if I got the ball on the ground, my defense would turn it,” said Taylor. “It feels good to do this for my team.”
Over her 10 innings against Lamar this weekend, Taylor allowed two unearned runs in the first and six hits. She struck out 11 and walked two. Saturday, she struck out three and walked one, getting seven of the last eight Cardinals out.
Lamar starter Ava Prejean lasted just four batters and didn’t get an out, falling to 0-3 with the loss.
McNeese will be back in action Wednesday when the Cowgirls travel to Ruston to take on Louisiana Tech in a 4 p.m. game.
