May 1, 2008

McNeese State hopes to take a big jump towards moving into contention for a berth in the Southland Conference post season tournament this week when the Cowboys take on Central Arkansas in a three game series in Conway.

The two teams are slated to begin that series on Friday. First pitch will be at 6:30 p.m. and all action can be heard in the Lake Charles area over 1470-AM.

The Cowboys are currently 6-15 in league play and that's only good enough for ninth place in the overall standings. Only the top eight teams will receive a berth in the tournament.

McNeese has now won its last two games and stands 12-33 on the season.

This will be the team's first meeting this season. A year ago McNeese won all three outings with the Bears, the games played in Lake Charles.

In Taylor Freeman the Cowboys have the SLC's top batter as he is hitting .399. He also leads the Cowboys with eight home runs and 43 RBIs. Freeman has been playing both first base and catching for the Cowboys this year.

The other top hitters on the club are Ryan Brauninger who plays first and is batting .308 and outfielder Sam Merrill who is hitting .300.

Third baseman Nick Eubanks has hit six home runs and shortstop Shon Landry has belted five.

As a team the Cowboys are hitting .273.

Expected to be on the mound for the Cowboys on Friday is lefthander Tyler Davis. He's 3-7 on the season with a 4.72 ERA.

Central Arkansas is 20-23 overall and 8-13 in conference. The Bears, however, are not eligible for the conference tournament this year.

As a team Central Arkansas has a .275 batting average and its leaders are Kevin Rawls with a .326 average, Kent Taylor with a .308 mark and 31 RBIs and Chris Davis with a .305 average, six home runs land 33 RBIs.