A pair of dominant pitching performances and continued improvement at the plate carried the McNeese Cowgirls to a doubleheader sweep over Houston Baptist, with the Cowgirls winning each game 9-1.

The wins extend McNeese (19-14, 6-0) winning streak to seven games, a season high, and keeps the Cowgirls perfect in Southland Conference play.

Houston Baptist (10-18, 0-6) dressed just 10 players. The Huskies had to forfeit the first game of the series due to injuries and having players in the health and safety protocols.

The Cowgirls completed the sweep behind a strong effort from Ashley Vallejo, who struck out six and allowed two hits and no walks in a five inning complete game.

Kendall Talley walked, doubled and homered in three trips to the plate, scoring three times and driving in three runs.

Jill Poullard hit a two-run homer, Toni Perrin a solo shot and Crislyne Moreno had two hits and an RBI. Talley, reigning Southland Conference hitter of the week after hitting .600 last week, was even better this week, with eight hits in nine at-bats, seven runs scored and seven runs batted in over three games. Leadoff hitter Alayis Seneca scored twice.

“When you’re getting production like that in front of Poullard, that’s tough on opposing pitchers,” Cowgirls head coach James Landreneau said.

“We’re getting production through the lineup and had two great pitching performances today. Ever since the second game (last weekend) against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, we have relaxed a bit and let the game come to us offensively. We had been pressing a bit and trying to do too much.”

Game One

McNeese 9

Houston Baptist 1

The first three batters of the day set the tone for McNeese, with Seneca and Talley each reaching on a single and scoring on a three-run home run by Poullard.

Shaelyn Sanders (6-0) stayed perfect for McNeese, striking out 12 batters while allowing only two hits and a walk over six innings.

“She was commanding the ball up and down as well as in and out, which made things really difficult,” Landreneau said. “She started the first 11 batters off with a strike, which makes it easier to pitch.”

Talley went 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI to lead the offense. Poullard and Gracie Devall each had two hits and scored two runs.

The Cowgirls play six home games this week, starting with a doubleheader today against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 3 p.m.

McNeese will host UL-Lafayette at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and host Southeastern Louisiana in a 3-game Southland Conference series this weekend.