The McNeese baseball team steps out of conference play tonight, traveling to play in-state rival Louisiana-Lafayette in a 6 p.m. start.

The Cowboys (17-9, 5-1 SLC) swept Northwestern State last weekend in their conference home opener. The Cajuns lost two out of three to Western Kentucky in Sun Belt play.

The Cowboys have won eight of its last 10 games, including series wins over UT-Arlington and Lamar. McNeese hasn’t lost a weekend series since its opening weekend against Towson.

McNeese senior left-hander Jason Gibson (1-0) will start on the mound. Gibson picked up his only win of the season against Harvard, tossing 6 2/3 shutout innings. He gave up two hits and struck out three batters.

ULL will counter with right-hander Chase Traffica (3-1), who has a 6.75 ERA and 20 strikeouts in seven appearances.

McNeese enters Tuesday’s game batting .278 as a team with 10 home runs and 49 doubles. They are are led by junior left-fielder Jackson Gooch, hitting .349 on the season and leads the team with 37 hits, 10 doubles, a triple, three home runs and 25 RBIs.

Third baseman Tyler Girouard leads ULL with a .434 batting average, 33 hits, four doubles, three triples, four home runs and 20 RBIs.

This will be the 164th meeting between the two teams. ULL holdS a 89-73-1 series advantage and swept last season’s two meetings.

Softball has date with No. 8 Texas

McNeese’s softball team will travel to Austin, Texas, today to face Texas, ranked 8th, in a doubleheader beginning at 4:30 p.m. The games are televised on the Longhorn Network.

McNeese (27-9) split a Southland Conference doubleheader with Central Arkansas this past weekend, dropping the first game 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh but rebounding to win the second game 8-0 in five innings. The third game of the series was canceled due to rain.

Junior outfielder Alanna DiVittorio leads the team with a .373 batting average, 35 runs scored, eight doubles, 26 walks and is second on the team with seven home runs and 23 RBI.

DiVittorio hit .800 with two home runs in the UCA doubleheader.

Pitchers senior Meagan Bond and freshman Jamie Allred are the Cowgirls’ top pitchers. Allred leads the team with 13 victories and Bond has a team-low 1.31 ERA.

Bond has a team-high 117 strikeouts in 96 innings pitched.

Texas (32-4) enters the doubleheader with a 16-1 home record and are led by Taylor Hoagland’s .470 batting average.

Pitcher Blaire Luna has a 17-1 record with a 1.11 ERA in 120.0 innings pitched. She has a team high 217 strikeouts and eight shutouts.

(MGNonline)