The McNeese State softball team is atop the Southland Conference standings halfway through the conference schedule.

To stay there the rest of the way the Cowgirls will have to beat the best of the rest as their final four opponents are the next four teams in the standings.

The stretch drive begins when the Cowgirls (29-12, 11-1 SLC) host Nicholls State (22-17, 9-6) in a doubleheader at 5 p.m. today. The series concludes with a single game at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The doubleheader was moved up a day due to a chance of rain Saturday.

McNeese won a nonconference game Tuesday, beating Houston 4-2 in nine innings. The Cowgirls enter on a three-game winning streak.

Nicholls lost its midweek game 3-2 to South Alabama. The Colonels are third in the Southland standings after winning a series against Lamar last weekend. The Colonels have won four of five Southland series.

Erin Krause (.404) leads the Colonels attack. Molly Yoo (10-6, 2.76 ERA)  and Audrey McNeil (9-7, 2.39) have started every conference game for the Colonels, combining to go 9-5.

McNeese has been dominant in Southland play, outscoring opponents 77-14 while leading the conference in hitting (.377) and ERA (0.74). Ashley Vallejo (10-7, 2.61) hasn’t lost a conference game in two years, winning 14 straight. She earned the win in relief against Houston and won the final two games of last  weekend’s series against Northwestern State.

Whitney Tate (12-3, 1.49) is also perfect in conference play with a 4-0 record.

Mariana Torres is hitting .487 with 17 RBIs in conference games. Reese Reyna is hitting .457 and is perfect on 13 steal attempts in conference games.

McNeese has won 14 consecutive conference series over the last three seasons and has won 18 of its last 19 games against conference opponents over the last two seasons.