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American Press
22-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Ricklefsen out at McNeese
After 24 years with the program, Jimmy Ricklefsen is out of the McNeese baseball program. (McNeese Athletics) Jimmy Ricklefsen has been fired after serving the McNeese State baseball program for a total of 24 years. Cowboys' head coach Justin Hill made the decision Wednesday morning, according to sources close to the program. The news came just five days after McNeese finished its most recent season with a 32-17 record. However, it lost eight of its last 12 games and was eliminated from the Southland Conference postseason with two straight late losses. Since 2023, Ricklefsen has served as the Cowboys' assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and alumni coordinator. He also coached the infield and first base while assisting with hitters. He is the longest assistant coach Hill has ever had. 'It caught me off guard,' Ricklefsen said. 'McNeese is near and dear to my heart and always will be. It will remain a big part of my life.' Attempts to reach Hill by the American Press were unsuccessful Thursday. Ricklefsen said he has been humbled by those who have reached out to him after the news broke. 'I'm touched and thankful to all the McNeese alumni and boosters who have sent me their wishes and support,' Ricklefsen said. 'It has meant a lot to me.' Ricklefsen is a 1986 McNeese graduate who played for the Cowboys from 1984-86 as both an infielder and an outfielder. He hit .333 his senior year. He led McNeese in stolen bases twice and had 11 career home runs. After graduating, Ricklefsen served as an assistant coach under the late Tony Robichaux from 1987-94, helping the Cowboys to their first-ever Southland Conference championship in 1988 and two NCAA Regionals appearances (1988, 1993). Ricklefsen was named McNeese's head coach before the 1995 season. He posted an 81-79 record, including tying the school record for wins in a season with 41 during the 1995 season. The Cowboys' 41-16 record and .719 winning percentage that year stands as a school record. Ricklefsen has been a baseball coach in the Southland Conference for 38 years, the most in conference history. Before returning home to McNeese, Ricklefsen served 19 years on the staff at Lamar, including six as an associate head coach, and helped guide the Cardinals to two conference championships, two league tournament titles and six NCAA Regionals appearances. He became one of 450 coaches in the country to be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) as a lifetime member. The award induction ceremony took place on Jan. 7, 2022. He has been a member of the organization for 36 years. Ricklefsen said he is not retiring and that his phone has already been ringing. The Ricklefsen File: McNeese – Assistant Head Coach (2023-Present) McNeese – Assistant Coach (2016-2023) Lamar – Associate Head Coach (2010-2015) Lamar – Assistant Coach (1998-2010) McNeese – Head Coach (1995-1997) McNeese – Assistant Coach (1988-1994) McNeese – Graduate Assistant (1987)
American Press
19-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
More good than bad
Conner Westenburg had a big senior year for McNeese. (PJ Mitchell/McNeese Athletics) For three quarters of the season, McNeese State was the surprise of college baseball. Not just the Southland Conference, but nationally. The Cowboys were riding a 12-game winning streak with a 27-5 record. They were deep in the race for the Southland Conference title. There was even talk that they could still get a second NCAA Tournament bid if they didn't win the league. However, the Cowboys stumbled down the stretch, finishing 5-12 over the last 17 games and 32-17 overall. They ended up in a three-way tie for third but earned the fifth seed with tiebreakers. McNeese's season ended heartbreakingly with a loss to co-champion Southeastern, which rallied and won in the top of the ninth. It was a disappointing finish to what had been so promising a month earlier. 'We are still figuring out and going over what all happened,' said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. 'We are still processing everything. I can say this, the guys gave me everything they had. Sometimes things happen in baseball.' Injuries to ace lefty Alexis Gravel and reliever Paul Coppinger put an extra strain on the pitching staff down the stretch, as the Cowboys struggled to close out games. 'There were not a lot of easy games all year,' said Hill. 'We played a lot of stressful innings and games. Every game seemed to be close. 'We won a lot of those early and lost a lot of those late.' While the end was tough, most of the season was good for the Cowboys. With many new faces, McNeese played a pretty exciting brand of baseball. They won 30 games for the 10th time in Hill's 12 seasons, with 2020 being cut to just 17 games by COVID. It was the Cowboys' 11th winning season under Hill, so there are a lot of positives as well. 'We had some really good moments this season,' said Hill. 'When we struggled, we ran out of time to fix them.' McNeese had two players earn top league honors. Gravel was named to the Southland Conference's second team. Outfielder Conner Westenburg had a big senior year, earning first-team honors and being named to the Southland's all-defensive team. Westenburg finished with a .322 batting average and nine triples, which is still tied for the lead in the nation. Redshirt sophomore Easton Dowell flirted most of the season with a .400 average before slipping to a team-high .369 at the end. Dowell is one of the Cowboys who had big years after seeing limited playing time in the past. Transfer Larry Edwards topped McNeese in runs batted in with 47 as he came up with more than his share of big hits. The Cowboys now enter an offseason of change with new roster sizes about to go into place.
American Press
16-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Cowboys eliminated from tourney
Cooper Golden threw six shoutout innings Friday but it wasn't enough for the Cowboys. (Matthew Bonnette/McNeese Athletics) This is not the ending they expected. Just a month after the Cowboys were fighting for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and a league title, their season is over. McNeese State's hopes of a postseason revival ended Friday afternoon at Alumni Field in Hammond. Top-seeded Southeastern knocked the Cowboys out of the Hammond Bracket with a 7-4 victory in the first elimination game. Southeastern (xx-xx), the Southland Conference co-champs, will move on to play the loser of Friday night's game between New Orleans and Northwestern State. Fifth-seeded McNeese (32-17) will start thinking about next year after going 0-2 in Hammond. 'Not the type of ending we expected,' said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. Just 19 days ago, the Cowboys were alone in first place. They finished the season winning just two of their last 11 games as injuries to the pitching staff piled up. The Lions scored four runs after two were out in the top of the ninth, as the McNeese bullpen faltered for the second straight day. It really hurts how this fell apart. With the score tied, Jake Blackwell struck out the first two Lions in the ninth and jumped ahead of pinch-hitter Jade Hall before hitting him. That started a string of trouble for McNeese. Parker Coley followed with an infield single hit behind third, and Hall raced to third. Coley raced home with the run to break a 3-3 tie when McNeese first baseman Marc Heushon lost track of him. The Lions added on three more runs, which proved huge when Cowboy Larry Edwards homered to lead off the bottom of the ninth. McNeese put the next two runners on base, but could do no more damage off SELA closer Brady St. Pierre. Pierre, the league's Relief Pitcher of the Year, worked the final 3⅔ innings, allowing just the one run for the win to improve to 2-1. Blackwell gave up six runs, four earned, in 2⅔ to take the loss, dropping to 3-3. The Lions started their comeback with three runs in the seventh to tie the game at three. Payton Woods' two-out, two-run single was the big hit and came after McNeese starter Cooper Golden had worked his way out of trouble in the sixth. The lefty retired TJ Salvaggio on a ground ball to third with the bases loaded to end the inning. Golden was able to get out of the trouble despite suffering what appeared to be a cramp in his left leg. Golden worked six innings, scattering eight hits before turning the ball over to the bullpen. A slight change in the batting order led to a fast start for McNeese. Bryce Jones stepped into the leadoff spot and promptly singled on the first pitch from SELA starter Lakin Polk, who lasted just one inning, allowing six hits. The first five hitters reached for the Cowboys, who scored three times to take a 3-0 lead. Marc Brousseau tripled and Larry Edwards doubled to lead the attack.
American Press
15-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Demons' late run haunts McNeese
Grant Mangum is greeted at home by Bryce Fontenot (left) and Conner Schneider after his second-inning homer Thursday in Hammond. (Matthew Bonnette/McNeese Athletics) Samuel Stevenson's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth lifted Northwestern State to a walk-off victory over the Cowboys to open play in the Southland Conference postseason. Stevenson hit a 3-2 pitch to the left-center gap between a pair of McNeese State outfielders to sink the Cowboys 7-6 at Alumni Field in Hammond, Thursday afternoon.. The win puts the fourth-seeded Demons (34-19) on the winners' side of the Hammond Bracket, where they will take on the victor of Thursday's late game between top-seeded Southeastern and No. 8 New Orleans. McNeese (32-16) will face the loser at 1 p.m. Friday, with its season on the line. During the regular season, the Cowboys swept UNO and took two of three from Southeastern in Hammond. 'A tough one,' McNeese head coach Justin Hill said. 'We have to move on. We can be upset for a moment, but after we eat dinner, we have work to do.' The Cowboys, who entered the tournament as the fifth seed, had a history of playing well in Hammond. They were 7-2 all-time in tourney games at Alumni Field, winning it all in 2022 and making it to the championship game last season in a surprising run. They were looking for more this year and led 6-5 entering the ninth on the arm of starter Sergio Lopez, who had gone the first eight innings. Lopez allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits during his afternoon. He had not walked a batter and struck out seven. With the game on the line, Hill turned to All-Conference lefty Alexis Gravel, who had not pitched in three weeks due to an injury. 'It was a gut feeling,' said Hill. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, that move didn't work out. Gravel gave up a single to pinch-hitter Bryce Johnson and then hit Hudson Brignac, the No. 9 Demon hitter. Gravel was replaced by Eric Nachtsheim, who allowed a bloop single to Reese Lipoma to load the bases for Stevenson with nobody out. 'I thought Sergio was really good,' said Hil. 'He deserved to win that ballgame. I hate it for him.' McNeese finished with 10 hits but left six runners on base. 'We had some good moments,' said Hill. 'We also left some runs out there.' Gravel took the loss, falling to 4-3. Dylan Marionneaux (4-4) picked up the win in relief, allowing just one run on five hits while going the final four innings. Catcher Grant Mangrum had a big day to lead the McNeese offense. The junior drove in four runs on a pair of hits, including blasting his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to start the scoring in the second. His two-run single in the sixth was part of the Cowboys' three-run game-winning rally that gave them the lead for good at 6-4. Clay Jung hit a solo home run in the eighth to cut the lead to 6-5. It was his seventh of the season and just over the glove of a leaping Conner Westenburg in right-center field. Lopez's only other mistake was in the fifth when Rocco Gump hit a wind-blown homer to left, his eighth. It was a two-run shot that gave the Demons a 4-3 lead. Now the Cowboys hope they can reboot some of that Hammond magic from the past, or their season will be over.
American Press
14-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Same foe, new season
At least the Cowboys won't need to do much scouting in preparation for their first-round postseason opener Thursday. 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.
