First-place Demons await Cowgirls
McNeese Cowgirl Justyce McClain (2) fields the ball in the outfield during a Non-Conference game against South Alabama at Cowgirl Diamond in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Wednesday, March 28, 2018. McClain leads Cowgirls with a .411 batting average. (Dennis Babineax/Special to the American Press)
The McNeese State softball team will look to shake off a 9-6 midweek loss to South Alabama when it travels to Natchitoches for a three-game weekend Southland Conference series with first-place Northwestern State beginning at 6 p.m. today.
After beginning the conference schedule with four consecutive losses, the two-time defending league champion Cowgirls (22-11, 5-4 SLC) have returned to form, winning their last five.
The Cowgirls will have the opportunity to make up some serious ground as they go against the league’s top team in the Demons (20-9, 8-1) who have yet to lose a home game.
“I know Donald (Pickett) is going to have a well-coached team,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “They’re swinging the bat really well right now and pitching well. That’s what they’ve always done well. They’ve always been a good offensive team, so I expect to see some good at-bats from them.”
NSU has five members of its lineup batting better than .300, with Cayla Jones leading the way with a .432 average and leading the team with six home runs and 24 RBIs.
The Cowgirls will have to go against the duo of 2015 SLC Pitcher of the Year junior Mikayla Brown (7-2, 3.09 ERA) and senior Micaela Bouvier (10-3, 2.13). The duo have pitched a combined 1321⁄3 innings, giving up 48 earned runs on 110 hits. They also have a combined 107 strikeouts.
Brown leads the league in ERA against conference opponents with a 1.27.
“They’re pitching it pretty well right now,” Landreneau said. “They’re able to minimize runs. They’re obviously leading our conference right now, so they’re playing with a tough of confidence. They’re excited, and any time you go over there to play, they play at a higher level.”
The Demons are one of thee SLC teams to have beaten McNeese the last two years.
The Cowgirls bring as dangerous a lineup in the SLC to go against Brown and Bouvier. The Cowgirls’ first three batters include Justyce McClain with a team-best .441 batting average and .516 on-base percentage, Erika Piancastelli with a .777 slugging percentage and 30 RBIs and Morgan Catron, who leads the SLC in RBIs with 33, thanks in large part to 10 home runs.
Alexsandra Flores (10-4, 2.41) and Caroline Settle (6-5, 3.43) continue to do most of the work in the circle for the Cowgirls.
The last thing Landreneau said he is worried about is the ability of his team to compete with a team as talented as NSU, which has won five of its last six games.
He said his job is to make sure the Cowgirls focus on the little things and play good softball. He said it’s easy to think about getting the win or winning the series or winning a championship and forget to win the inning or the at-bat or the pitch.
“Right now it’s just a matter of whether we can play good softball,” Landreneau said. “That’s what I like to see this team do. We need to start putting all the phases together. We need to compete offensively one through nine, put seven good innings together in the circle and play mentally clean defense.”