McNeese softball lost its first conference game of the season on March 13, falling 7-6 to Northwestern State in the opening matchup of a three-game series. The teams will finish the series with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday, which will be streamed on ESPN+.
The loss brings McNeese’s record to 19-8 overall and 3-1 in Southland Conference play. Northwestern State now stands at 13-14 overall and also holds a 3-1 conference record.
McNeese took an early lead when Rylee Cloud scored on an error in the first inning. Northwestern State responded quickly with a solo home run by JT Smith and added two more runs in the second inning to move ahead. Corine Poncho’s sacrifice fly helped McNeese close the gap, and Maddie Taylor’s two-run homer in the fourth gave the Cowgirls a brief lead. Nyjah Fontenot extended that lead with a solo home run in the fifth.
Northwestern State narrowed McNeese’s advantage with runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, tying the game at five. In the seventh, Fontenot hit an RBI double that put McNeese back on top, but Northwestern State rallied again. After back-to-back singles and a wild pitch tied it up, Sister Arnold singled to right field to bring home Brynn Daniel for the walk-off win.
Fontenot led McNeese offensively with two extra-base hits—a home run and a double—along with two RBIs and one run scored. The Cowgirls used five pitchers during the game; Brookelyn Taylor pitched five innings while Kynlei Chapman took the loss after allowing two earned runs in one-third of an inning.
Mattison Buster earned her eleventh win of the season for Northwestern State by pitching a complete game, giving up six runs on seven hits while striking out three batters.
