The McNeese State softball team made the most of its senior day as it clinched the top-seed in the Southland Conference tournament with a sweep of Stephen F. Austin Friday night at Cowgirl Diamond.
The Cowgirls (36-16, 21-3 SLC) defeated the Ladyjacks (17-30, 9-12) 2-1 in eight innings to clinch the series before completing the doubleheader sweep with a 3-1 victory in Game 3 of the series.
SFA gave the Cowgirls all they could handle in the day’s first game, but McNeese came out on top with an eight-inning, 2-1 victory to clinch the series.
“Today was just about finding a way to get the job done,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “I thought our pitching staff did a great job of minimizing damage. We left a ton of runners on, but our kids stayed focused.”McNeese got on the board first in the third inning when Alexandria Saldivar hit an RBI single that scored Tori Yanitor, who led off the inning with a walk.
After being shut out for five innings by starting pitcher Baylee Corbello, the Ladyjacks tied the score in peculiar fashion when a walk turned into three bases when Erika Piancastelli lost a passed ball, allowing Amber Landry to reach third and scored on an Autumn Holloway sacrifice fly.
Piancastelli made up for the mistake in the eighth inning when she reached on a walk and stole second base, allowing Taylor Schmidt to knock her in with the winning run on a line-drive base hit to right field.
“It’s a pretty great feeling to be able to do that for my team,” Schmidt said. “It’s pretty special to come out on top for my team like that.”
Alexsandra Flores (10-4) earned the win in the circle with 2 2/3 shutout innings in which she gave up one hit and struck out three batters. Corbello went 5 1/3 innings, giving up an unearned run and five hits with four strikeouts.
The loss went to Jordan Llinas, who pitched 7 1/3 inning, giving up six hits and striking out three.
Game 2 was a defensive battle, but Rachel Smith (14-6) picked up her second win of the series with a complete-game, one-run outing in which she gave up three hits, all in the sixth inning.
“Everything is for our team,” Smith said. “We play for each other and we love each other. It’s really a genuine love.”
The Cowgirls got on the board in the first inning as Saldivar picked up her second RBI of the day on a single that scored Piancastelli. They padded the lead in the fourth inning despite not earning a hit as SFA pitcher Makayla Sikes walked four batters to force in Yanitor and give the Cowgirls a 2-0 lead.
Smith gave up her first hit in the sixth inning when Brittany Lewis hit a home run over the left-field wall to make it 2-1.
McNeese went back up by two when SFA walked in another runner in what was Piancastelli’s 158th walk of her career, tying the SLC record.
The Cowgirls close out the regular season next week at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond.
“I don’t think words will ever be able to describe what our seniors have done for this program,” Landreneau said. “Their work and their performance and their character … there is so much more than softball they do for our community.”
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