Friday didn’t go in McNeese’s favor as they lost 7-6 to the Lamar Cardinals in game two of the Southland Conference Softball Championship. That forced a Saturday game three in Lake Charles to decide who would punch their ticket to the postseason.
The Cowgirls wasted no time taking a big lead on their home field. When it was all said and done, McNeese walked away victorious in a 10-2 game in five innings. That win made the Pokes the conference champs and secured them a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
There was a coin toss to decide which team would be considered the “home team,” and the Pokes received that designation. With that, the starting pitchers in the circle were Maddie Taylor for the Cowgirls and, for the third consecutive game, Reagan Smith for Lamar.
McNeese jumped out to a large lead at the bottom of the first after Lamar managed to get just one runner on base on a hit-by-pitch. Kassidy Chance and Maddie Weeks led off with singles into left field, and near the shortstop, then Corine Poncho walked to load the bases with no outs. Jada Munoz took advantage of her situation and hit a grand slam over the left field wall.
Taylor followed up a good first inning in the circle with a single into right-center field and advanced to third on a one-out double by Alexis Dibbley. Onna Pruit drove her in with a sacrifice fly, and Dibbley got caught in a chase down, but that didn’t stop McNeese from taking a 5-0 lead after the first inning. Ahead of the last run, Lamar made a pitching change from Smith to Ava Prejean.
The Cardinals put multiple runners on the base paths and gave themselves a chance to put their first run on the board at the top of the second. That plan was foiled with Sicily Windham and Roxy Thompson hitting into fielder’s choices. Those last two plays held them scoreless heading into the bottom of the frame.
McNeese built on its lead the next time at the plate. They did so with a pair of home runs from their nine-hole hitter, Nyjah Fontenot, then, with one out, Weeks hit the ball off the scoreboard. That was enough for the Pokes to go up by seven, prompting Lamar to make another pitching change. This time, the Cardinals brought in Madison Guidry to force Poncho into a strikeout and Munoz into a groundout.
Lamar got on the board at the top of the third as Ariel Flores went yard with two outs. The fourth home run of the game made it a 7-1 game in favor of the Cowgirls.
The Pokes couldn’t record a hit in the third or fourth inning, and the Cardinals picked up another run at the top of the fifth. Gracee Hess was hit by a pitch, and she advanced to third on a Flores single. Hess then scored on an infield error to cut it to a five-run game before a pair of pop-ups for the second and third out.
McNeese didn’t let the game pass the fifth inning as Munoz led with a single to third base. Maddie Taylor reached first again, this time she walked, and Rylee Cloud singled up the middle to score Munoz. Taylor and Cloud advanced to a scoring position later on in the play, and Dibbley put the final nail in the coffin with a two-RBI double into left field. That walk-off hit gave the Cowgirls the 10-2 win on Saturday.
The win secured the Southland Conference Tournament Championship and a birth into the NCAA Tournament.
BIG NUMBER: 10
This will be the 10th time in program history that the Cowgirls have made the NCAA Tournament. Head coach James Landreneau has been a part of six of those trips dating back to his first year in Lake Charles in 2017.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jada Munoz
Munoz had herself a great tournament and showed up once again on Saturday to help her team win. In game three, Munoz went 2/4 at the plate, had four RBI, and had the grand slam back in the opening inning as McNeese took down Lamar 10-2 to extend the season.
UP NEXT: The McNeese Cowgirls softball team will wait to hear their name called on Sunday to find out where they will be headed for regional play.