The young Cowgirls proved they can play with the Southland Conference’s best and beat them.

Now they have to prove they aren’t about to have any letdowns.

Last weekend, McNeese State took 2 of 3 from league-leading Southeastern in Hammond, rallying for a pair of wins after being blown out in the series opener.

That leaves the Cowgirls (25-17, 11-4) just one game behind the Lady Lions in the race for the regular season title with 12 games remaining. Southeastern (32-10, 12-3) could have pulled away by winning the series.

Now, with McNeese holding the tiebreak, the race is back on.

“We had lots of different people step up,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “Overall, the mentality to come back and not hit the panic button shows maturity.

“We got punched in the mouth pretty hard in that first game. To come back and respond, I’m happy with that.”

McNeese is also in good shape to host one of the two postseason tournament pods. The top two teams in the standings will host a four-team double-elimination group similar to an NCAA Regional.

The two winners will then meet at the higher seed’s home for a best-of-three series. With six games this week over five days, a lot of movement in the standings is expected.

None of the four teams McNeese has left on its league schedule have a winning record. The Cowgirls are looking to win their fourth straight regular-season championship and make their fourth NCAA Regional in the last five seasons.

“We talked about that,” said Landreneau. “We sometimes don’t play with a sense of urgency. I think they understand that.”

The Cowgirls return to conference play with a rare midweek series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Islanders come into Tuesday’s series opener 9-26 and just 3-12 in the league.

They will then travel to play three games at Houston Christian over the weekend. This will be a test for the young McNeese players, who will have to stay focused after a big weekend.
“How we respond from an emotional win will be important,” said Landreneau. “Can we hold our focus and play good softball is important.”

McNeese has found a way to win games in tough situations. Five of its players are in the Top 23 in the league in hitting, led by freshman Kassidy Chance, who is hitting .377. 

“The big thing is we have a lineup that can hurt you one through nine,” said Landreneau. “We can put pressure on you from a lot of different players in different ways.”

Freshman Maddie Taylor bounced back from a tough night against LSU to pitch 10⅓ innings over the last two games against SELA to pick up two wins and improve to 11-6.

“She had a really good two games for us when we needed them,” said Landreneau. 

The Cowgirls are still very much a work in progress, however. 

“I still think we are getting better,” said Landreneau. “We still have work to do.”

The first pitch on Tuesday against the Islanders is set for 6 p.m., and a doubleheader is scheduled for Wednesday beginning at 1 p.m.