Same foe, new season
McNeese State begins play in the Hammond Bracket of the Southland Conference tournament against a very familiar foe, Northwestern State.
The two teams just finished a three-game series that the Demons won 2-1 last weekend in Natchitoches. McNeese's late rally fell a run short in the finale, as the Cowboys lost 7-6 and fell all to the fifth seed despite finishing tied for third with Lamar (No. 3) and the Demons (No. 4).
'What has happened in the past doesn't matter,' said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. 'This is a new season and we get a second chance.'
The Cowboys and Demons will open the bracket at 1 p.m. with the game streaming on ESPN+. In the first game, top-seeded Southeastern plays No. 8 New Orleans in the night game.
Texas-Rio Grande Valley will host the Edinburg Bracket and open against No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Lamar will open against Houston Christian.
'This tournament is wide open,' said McNeese center fielder and All-Conference selection Conner Westenburg. 'We beat everybody in this tournament, but everybody beat us. It is a coin flip.'
McNeese enters the tourney 32-15 and 19-11 in league play. Northwestern State is 33-19, 19-11.
The Cowboys are looking forward to the opener after last weekend.
'They got us last week,' said Edwards.'That doesn't matter now.'
This is what the Cowboys have been building for this spring. They are 8-4 this season against the three teams joining them in Hammond, including taking two of three from the league co-champion Lions.
'We have been waiting for this all season,' said left fielder Larry Edwards. 'Everybody is 0-0. We know what we have to do and we are ready to go.'
The Cowboys hope they found a surprise for the Demons in Bryce Jones. Recovering from a hand injury that sidelined most of his season, Jones homered twice and drove in four runs in Saturday's third game.
'He was swinging, but it was hurting him for a few weeks,' said Hill. 'Then he was swinging, and we could tell it wasn't hurting him, so we wanted to see if we got anything. We got something for sure.'
The Cowboys hope to get something from Alexis Gravel, who was the ace for most of the season. He has missed his last couple of starts and could be back from some innings this weekend.
'We aren't going to do anything that would hurt his future,' said Hill. 'We will be smart. He has a chance to play for money one day. But we will see what he can do.'
The Cowboys have had success in Hammond in the past. They won the title there three years ago and lost the title game last year after making a huge postseason run.
'I think the field plays a lot like ours, so we are comfortable,' said Hill.
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