Jim Gazzolo, Special to the American Press

James Landreneau is about to find out if his grand plan worked.

After playing a pre-conference schedule loaded with ranked opponents, Landreneau’s team looks to be finding its stride heading into Southland Conference play tonight.

The Cowgirls (8-12) begin league play against Central Arkansas (12-8) at Joe Miller Field riding a five-game winning streak.

First pitch set for 6:30 p.m.

“I like where we are at and how we are playing,” Landreneau said. “I think we are in a good place right now.”

The Cowgirls took four straight last weekend at home and beat Houston 4-3 Wednesday night, seemingly learning from their tough start.

“We want to play good teams, to make a name for our program,” Landreneau said. “We also think it makes us a better team later in the year. We have learned from those games.”

The Cowgirls are undefeated against unranked opponents his year but are 1-12 against top 25 foes.

“We have played well and been in a lot of close games,” Landreneau said. “In those games we have learned you can’t make any mistakes. Good teams take advantage of any little mistake and jump on them.”

Kaylee Lopez and Cori McCrary lead the offense at .344 and .328, respectively. McCrary, who was 3-for-3 against Houston, has also provided the power with five homers and 13 RBIs, both team highs.

The senior from Lafayette entered the season with six career home runs but is off to a fast start. She has seven hits in nine at-bats in the last three games.

Pitcher Jenna Edwards is 2-1 with a 2.39 ERA and four saves for the Cowgirls while Saleen Flores has a 4-3 mark despite an ERA of 6.75.

UCA comes into the three-game series 0-4 against ranked opponents. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“We are excited to start league play,” Landreneau said.