As Payton Harden lay on the warning track in centerfield after crashing into the wall 11 days ago, the Cowboys season was in question.

It was just the first inning of a six-game stretch that would decide the outcome of league race and Harden was down.

Meanwhile, Northwestern State’s Bo Willis was racing around the bases for a three-run inside-the-park homer.

Harden would soon leave the game and miss the next two while in concussion protocol. And the Cowboys would lose 2-of-3 to the Demons.

“Sitting out those games gave me a different perspective from the bench,” said Harden. “It made me want to play much more. I missed being in the game.”

A week later Harden was back in the lineup and once again leading the McNeese State offense. He hit .571 over the final three games last weekend at Houston Baptist, all McNeese must wins, as the Cowboys captured the regular season crown.

He finished 8-for-14 which included a career-best five-hit game in the opener. He scored six runs and drove in 10.

His two-run homer in the second began a Cowboy comeback in the finale after they fell behind 7-0 in the first inning.

Impressively, Harden hit his first two home runs of the season as half of his hits went for extra bases. That work led him to be named the SLC Hitter of the Week Monday.

“He plays so hard,” said McNeese head coach Justin Hill said of Payton. “He is the hardest worker and has such a big heart.”

There was no way Harden, who his teammates call “Payday”, was going to miss the biggest series of the season.

“I hit that wall hard,” Harden said. “I had a bit of a headache, but I knew my face was fine. That’s what I was worried about.”

With his head on straight, Harden turned on the offense. It is something he has been doing all year.

The redshirt junior is having a huge season after a somewhat slow start. He was even moved off his leadoff spot and down in the lineup earlier in the season when his average dipped below .200.

Now he’s back up to second and raking. He had a career-best five hits and six RBIs in the series opener in Houston, setting the tone for an offensive outburst by McNeese.

Harden became more of a run producer for a time and then he moved back to the second spot as a table setter.

“It doesn’t matter where he is in the lineup, he can hit,” said Hill.

Harden ended the conference with a .371 average, one point ahead of Larry Amani of New Orleans. He leads the league in hits at 73, has scored 43 runs and knocked in 38.

“I just go out there and try to get hits,” said Harden. “We have a lot of guys on this team who can hit.”

The Cowboys led the conference in hitting with a .304 average. Three of the top six hitters in the league are in their lineup.

However, it is Harden who keeps them going at the top. His 22 stolen bases is tied for the team lead with Reid Bourque, but it’s the power that was the surprise last weekend.

“I just kept working on it and it happened,” said Payton. “I don’t try to hit them.”

In one week he went from hitting the wall to hitting the ball over it, proving like the rest of these Cowboys they might be down, but they were not out.