Cowboys quietly putting up wins

Published 12:39 pm Thursday, March 27, 2025

In case you missed it, and you may have with all that is going on with basketball, the McNeese baseball team is putting up some lofty numbers this season.

The Cowboys are a bit of a surprise midway through the season, posting impressive offense and pitching numbers.

Most importantly, they are off to their best start in program history. After winning two games this week by the run rule, McNeese is 19-5 as they get set for a rare weekend off.

The Cowboys beat Dillard 14-0 Wednesday and Southern 15-5 Tuesday to run their winning streak to four games. Both ended after seven innings by the run rule.

The record for wins in a season at McNeese is 41, accomplished in back-to-back seasons in 1994 and 1995. The Cowboys were 41-17 in ’94, followed by finishing 41-16 the following year.

Those seasons came under two different managers, first from Tony Robicaux and second recorded by Jim Ricklefsen, who is currently on head coach Justin Hill’s staff.

Hill’s most wins came in 2017 when McNeese finished 37-20.

Not much was certain heading into this season for the Cowboys, or for that matter, many college baseball teams, considering all the roster movement after last season.

“I don’t think you could imagine going 19-5,” said Hill. “We started out hot and kept going.”

McNeese won 10 of its first 11 games and is 8-4 in the Southland Conference. The only thing slowing them down are the three games that they have canceled.

“I don’t know if I’m surprised,” said infielder Easton Dowell. “I knew we would be pretty good. We came together early and just kept it going.”

Dowel had two hits in the victory over Dillard, raising his average to .410. That’s good for third in the league in hitting.

The Cowboys are solid in a lot of places. They are fifth in the league in hitting and fourth in pitching. They are fourth in home runs, led by Simon Larranaga’s seven, and third in runs allowed.

“We don’t lead in anything, we just do a lot of everything,” said Hill. “We do put pressure on the other team.”

The Cowboys are a combination of many new pieces, including outfielder Larry Edwards, who is in his first year at McNeese. Edwards drove in four runs against Dillard and has driven in 19 on the season.

Hitting .368, the left fielder is one of six Cowboys knocking in at least 18 runs.

“We are just sticking to our script,” said Edwards. “Everybody in our lineup is different and can do different things. That makes us tough to defend.”

Dowell agrees that the Cowboys can hit you in many ways.

“Our offense is unique,” Dowel said. “One through nine, we are good and different.”

The Cowboys also have depth at pitching. Fifteen different pitchers have thrown for McNeese, with seven getting starts.

Wednesday, they picked up their third team’s shutout of the season.

“Our pitching has been good all year,” said Hill. “We have a lot of arms we can use.”

McNeese will have a weekend off due to an uneven number of teams in the Southland.

“This will give us a chance to heal,” said Hill. “We will try to stay in rhythm as best we can.

McNeese will return to action next Tuesday after a six-day layoff. They will host Alcorn before returning to Southland play against UNO the following weekend.