Facing a brief turnaround after a long game, the McNeese State Cowgirls are facing a big challenge this weekend with Southeastern Louisiana in town for a three-game Southland Conference softball series.

The teams are the last two unbeaten in SLC play.

The Cowgirls (22-14, 6-0 SLC) are on a 10-game winning streak. The problem is the 10th win, a 6-5, 13-inning win over Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday night, was basically a doubleheader in an already packed week.

It was the Cowgirls’ first home win against the Ragin’ Cajuns since 2007.

The Cowgirls played doubleheaders Sunday and Monday and used all three members of the usual pitching rotation Wednesday night.

The Lions (25-10, 3-0), who are the best hitting team in the SLC at.327, would be a tough opponent under any circumstances, said Cowgirls head coach James Landreneau. SLU enters the series on a seven-game win streak, which includes a sweep of Incarnate Word in their lone Southland series.

The Lions offense is led by a pair of speedsters in Cam Goodman, who leads the league in hitting, and Barbe High graduate Aeriyl Moss. Goodman is hitting .456 with 21 stolen bases. Moss is hitting .389 with 23 steals. Eight of the nine Lions regular starters are hitting above .300. Heather Zumo (12-3, 2.14 ERA) leads the pitching staff.

“They put a lot of pressure on you and have been able to score a lot of runs,” Landreneau said. “Our challenge is going to be using (Thursday) as a recovery day and getting ready mentally to get ready to play SLU, a team that is going to play fast softball and put pressure on you.”

The Lions lead the nation with 2.63 stolen bases per game, 92 for the season. The Cowgirls have stolen 90 bases.

“Their pitching staff attacks the strike zone well and they have a lot of arms they can throw at you,” Landreneau said. “They are a hard team to prepare for. They are red hot and off to one of the best starts they have had in years.”

Landreneau said he’s glad to have a high-stakes series no matter the circumstances.

“This is what you practice for, work hard all offseason for, to get to these points,” he said.

Over the past five games, McNeese outfielder Kendall Talley (.360, 2 HR, 15 RBIs) has reached base 15 times in 18 plate appearances, with 11 hits, 11 runs scored and eight RBIs. In that same span, Jil Poullard (.378, 6 HR, 30 RBIs) has six hits, four walks, seven runs and 10 RBIs while leadoff hitter Alayis Seneca (.330, 17 RBIs) is 7-for-17 with 10 runs scored.

Whitney Tate (6-7, 3.56 ERA), who picked up the win Wednesday night in relief, is 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA over her last five appearances.

Shaelyn Sanders (6-0, 1.76) leads the Cowgirls’ pitching staff. Ashley Vallejo (8-6, 2.84) has 68 strikeouts in 882/3 innings.