McNeese flaunted its depth while sweeping a doubleheader against Lamar, using a trio of pitchers and host of hitters to produce wins of 8-1 and 7-3 on Saturday.

The wins give McNeese (29-17) a sweep of the nonconference series against the Cardinals (9-30) and 18 wins over the past 21 games.

Reserve catcher Adriana Ramirez sparked the Cowgirls in game 2, launching a long home run to left to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning. She had a sacrifice bunt and walked in her other two at-bats.

“I went in wanting to be aggressive and knew the pitcher would want to throw strikes early in the count,” Ramirez said. “She threw a changeup and I told myself to relax. Then she threw me one away and came back with an inside pitch. It was nice.”

The Cowgirls took the lead in the fifth inning when Jil Poullard doubled to score Kendall Talley. Poullard scored on a single by Kaylee Lopez. Talley added a two-run double in the sixth, which featured a pinch hit single by Kennedy Reynolds.

Whitney Tate (10-7) won her eighth straight decision in relief, tossing 2⅓ scoreless innings with two hits and two strikeouts.

“Our players on the bench did an outstanding job coming in all weekend — Steczo and Reynolds had big knocks yesterday, then Steczo gets a homer in a start today; Ramirez comes in and gets a home run today,’ head coach James Landreneau said.

“We are getting contributions from a lot of people and it is good to see. We know Ramirez has power and Steczo has a ton of power to go along with Reynolds, so to be able to get production from those girls is huge for us. It adds a lot of stress (to the opponent).

“We know there is power there and they have been having some good at-bats and doing a good job.”

Lamar led twice in the game. Hannah Kinkaide hit a two-run home run in the second inning to put the Cards up 2-1. In the fourth,  Hayley Freudenberg doubled and scored on a throwing error.

Talley and Crisleyne Moreno each had three hits and two RBI for the Cowgirls. Poullard and Lopez each had two hits and an RBI.

Game 1

McNeese 8

Lamar 1

Ashley Vallejo (11-7) tossed a complete game two-hitter for the Cowgirls, striking out nine and walking one.

McNeese scored five runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run single by Kaylee Lopez, RBI double by Caleigh Cross and pinch hit RBI single by Kennedy Reynolds.  The Cowgirls scored three more in the sixth inning on a pinch hit home run by Tiffany Steczo and RBI double by Kendall Talley.