For the first time in the Justin Hill era, McNeese State’s baseball team won a series over a Big Ten opponent.

The Cowboys rallied late Sunday to knock off the Northwestern 6-3 Sunday afternoon at Joe Miller Ballpark. The win gave McNeese a series victory after they had lost the opener Friday night.

The win improved the Cowboys to 11-10, with six of their losses coming at the hands of teams in the Top 10. Northwestern fell to 10-11.

Both teams will open conference play next week with McNeese hosting Northwestern State starting Thursday night. Tuesday they will host Mississippi Valley State at 6 p.m.

“We’ve had a chance to play some good programs and that’s a good team over there that has played a really tough schedule,” said Hill. “To win a series after losing on Friday night starts to tell you a little bit about the character of our team.”

The Cowboys last beat a Big Ten foe in 2020, when they topped Minnesota.

McNeese scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to give J.T. Moeller, the fourth Cowboy pitcher on the day, to pick up the victory. Moeller improved to 2-1 by going the final 1⅔  innings. 

Cooper Hext led the offense by going 3-for-4.

Softball

The Cowgirls swept their way right back into Southland Conference contention by taking three straight from Incarnate Word. 

The series ended Saturday with a doubleheader sweep of the Cardinals. McNeese moved into second place in the Southland with the sweep Saturday, improving to 5-1 in the league and 19-13 overall.

It was the Cowgirls’ fourth straight victory overall and seventh straight against UIW. McNeese is 21-3 all-time against the Cardinals (16-9, 4-5).

Corine Poncho led the 11-6 series finale victory for the Cowgirls. The sophomore tripled and homered while driving in three runs. It was her 11th home run of the season.

The Cowgirls trailed 5-1 before scoring seven runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth to complete the sweep.