McNeese Cowgirls softball

McNeese Cowgirls
McNeese Cowgirls
2024 McNeese Cowgirls softball team
University	McNeese State University
All-time Record	1,093–1,087–4
Head coach	James Landreneau (5th season)
Conference	Southland
Location	Lake Charles, LA
Home stadium	Joe Miller Field at Cowgirl Diamond (Capacity: 1,200)
Nickname	Cowgirls
Colors	Royal blue and gold;
NCAA Tournament appearances
	1994, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
	1983, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023
Regular Season Conference championships
	1983, 1994(T), 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2024

The McNeese Cowgirls softball team represents McNeese State University, located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Cowgirls are a member of the Southland Conference and participate in NCAA Division I college softball. The team is currently led by head coach James Landreneau and play their home games at Joe Miller Field at Cowgirl Diamond.

History

The first season for McNeese State Cowgirl softball was 1979. The Cowgirls competed as an independent for the first four seasons. The team won the Louisiana championship two of those seasons (1979, 1981). After softball became an NCAA and Southland Conference sponsored sport, the Cowgirls have competed in the conference and at the Division I (NCAA) level. The Cowgirls have won six Southland Conference regular season championships (1983, 1994 (T), 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) and seven Southland Conference tournament championships (1983, 2005, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021) earning the conference's autobid to the NCAA Division I softball tournament in 2005 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021. The team also competed in the 1994 NCAA tournament as an at-large selection. As of the conclusion of the 2018 season, the Cowgirls have compiled a 1041–1048–4 overall record with an overall conference record of 406–346–3.^[2]^[3] Erika Piancastelli is McNeese State's first and only All-American. She was named an NFCA All-American in 2016.

Career coaching records

Coach	Number of seasons	Overall record	Winning percentage
Coaching records
Cathy Cunningham	2	28–22	.560
Jim Draudt	2	59–28	.678
Vicki Chapman	1	19–18	.514
Cheryl Manuel	2	43–58	.426
Cherilyn Lantrip	2	42–38	.525
Rose Ruffino	5	56–186	.231
Scott Eastman	12	311–355–4	.467
Chris Malveaux	4	108–133	.448
Natalie Poole	3	100–84	.543
Mike Smith	3	112–53	.679
Joanna Hardin	2	79–34	.699
James Landreneau	4	172–100	.645

Overall	41	1,089–1,095–4	.496

(Records reflect game results through 2021 season.)

Year-by-year results

Source:^[4]^[2]

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall				Conference				Notes
Season	Conference	Coach	Games	Win	Loss	Tie	Games	Win	Loss	Tie	Notes
NCAA Year-by-Year Results
1979	Independent	Cathy Cunningham	24	16	8	0	0	0	0	0	Louisiana Champions
1980	Independent	Cathy Cunningham	26	12	14	0	0	0	0	0
1981	Independent	Jim Draudt	45	33	12	0	0	0	0	0	Louisiana Champions
1982	Independent	Jim Draudt	42	26	16	0	0	0	0	0
1983	Southland	Vicky Chapman	37	19	18	0	8	5	3	0	SLC Regular Season and Tournament champions
1984	Southland	Cheryl Manuel	51	24	27	0	8	5	3	0	2nd
1985	Southland	Cheryl Manuel	50	19	31	0	12	7	5	0	4th
1986	Southland	Cherilyn Lantrip	43	19	24	0	12	6	6	0	3rd
1987	Southland	Cherilyn Lantrip	37	23	14	0	12	8	4	0	3rd
1988	Southland	Rose Ruffino	42	8	34	0	14	3	11	0	6th
1989	Southland	Rose Ruffino	54	9	45	0	14	0	14	0	8th
1990	Southland	Rose Ruffino	48	10	38	0	15	2	13	0	8th
1991	Southland	Rose Ruffino	44	11	33	0	22	5	17	0	6th
1992	Southland	Rose Ruffino	54	18	36	0	28	6	22	0	9th
1993	Southland	Scott Eastman	52	23	28	1	25	12	12	1	4th
1994	Southland	Scott Eastman	61	35	24	2	30	22	7	1	SLC Champions; NCAA tournament – 1st round
1995	Southland	Scott Eastman	62	37	25	0	32	22	10	0	3rd
1996	Southland	Scott Eastman	53	31	22	0	24	17	7	0	2nd
1997	Southland	Scott Eastman	59	32	27	0	23	13	10	0	3rd
1998	Southland	Scott Eastman	47	13	34	0	24	7	17	0	9th
1999	Southland	Scott Eastman	60	26	34	0	25	14	11	0	5th
2000	Southland	Scott Eastman	60	27	33	0	27	16	11	0	4(T)
2001	Southland	Scott Eastman	53	21	32	0	26	13	13	0	6th
2002	Southland	Scott Eastman	51	23	28	0	27	17	10	0	4th
2003	Southland	Scott Eastman	52	24	27	1	27	15	11	1	3rd
2004	Southland	Scott Eastman	60	19	41	0	25	8	17	0	9th
2005	Southland	Chris Malveaux	69	34	35	0	27	12	15	0	6th, SLC tournament champions; NCAA regionals
2006	Southland	Chris Malveaux	51	21	30	0	26	13	13	0	4th
2007	Southland	Chris Malveaux	62	30	32	0	27	16	11	0	5th
2008	Southland	Chris Malveaux	59	23	36	0	29	15	14	0	5th
2009	Southland	Natalie Poole	59	31	28	0	30	20	10	0	2nd
2010	Southland	Natalie Poole	65	38	27	0	30	17	13	0	4th, SLC tournament champions; NCAA regionals
2011	Southland	Natalie Poole	60	31	29	0	30	18	12	0	4th
2012	Southland	Mike Smith	55	34	21	0	20	12	8	0	3rd
2013	Southland	Mike Smith	53	38	15	0	24	19	5	0	1st, SLC regular-season champions
2014	Southland	Mike Smith	57	40	17	0	26	20	6	0	1st, SLC regular-season champions
2015	Southland	Joanna Hardin	56	36	20	0	26	21	5	0	2nd
2016	Southland	Joanna Hardin	57	43	14	0	27	23	4	0	1st, SLC regular-season champions; SLC tournament champions; NCAA regionals
2017	Southland	James Landreneau	61	43	18	0	27	24	3	0	1st, SLC regular-season champions; SLC tournament champions; NCAA regionals
2018	Southland	James Landreneau	62	41	21	0	27	18	9	0	2nd; SLC tournament champions; NCAA regionals
2019	Southland	James Landreneau	65	33	32	0	27	19	8	0	3rd; NISC Regionals
2020	Southland	James Landreneau	26	19	7	0	3	3	0	0	2nd (season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic)
2021	Southland	James Landreneau	58	34	24	0	27	18	9	0	3rd; NCAA regionals

Post-season appearances

Conference Tournaments

Sources:^[2]

Year	Conference	Record	%	Notes
Conference softball tournament Results
1983	Southland	4–0	1.000	Tournament Champion
1984	Southland	2–2	.500
1985	Southland	0–2	.000
1986	Southland	3–2	.600
1987	Southland	2–2	.500
1988	Southland	0–2	.000
1989	Southland	0–2	.000
1990	Southland	2–2	.333

1991–1995		No Tournament

1996	Southland	0–2	.000
1997	Southland	0–2	.000
1999	Southland	3–2	.600
2000	Southland	2–2	.500
2001	Southland	0–2	.500
2002	Southland	0–2	.500
2003	Southland	1–2	.333
2005	Southland	5–1	.833	Tournament Champion
2006	Southland	0–2	.000
2007	Southland	0–2	.000
2008	Southland	1–1	.500
2009	Southland	2–2	.500
2010	Southland	4–0	1.000	Tournament Champion
2011	Southland	2–2	.500
2012	Southland	2–2	.500
2013	Southland	0–2	.000
2014	Southland	2–2	.500
2015^[5]	Southland	0–2	.000
2016	Southland	3–0	1.000	Tournament Champion
2017	Southland	3–0	1.000	Tournament Champion
2018	Southland	4–0	1.000	Tournament Champion
2019	Southland	1–2	.333

2020		No Tournament (COVID-19 pandemic)
2021	Southland	4–0	1.000	Tournament Champion

Total		52–48	.520	31 appearances

NCAA Division I tournament results

The Cowgirls have appeared in six NCAA Division I tournaments. Their record is 5–14.
Source: ^[3]

Year	Part	Round	Opponent	Result/score
NCAA Division I tournament results
1994	Regionals No. 4	First game Second game	Louisiana–Lafayette Princeton	L 0–3 L 0–2
2005	College Station Regionals	First game Second game Third game	Texas A&M Centenary Penn State	L 3–6 W 5–2 L 1–2
2010	Baton Rouge Regionals	First game Second game	LSU Texas A&M	L 0–6 L 0–2
2016	Baton Rouge Regionals	First game Second game Third game	Arizona State LSU Arizona State	W 5–2 L 1–4 L 2–3 (14 inn)
2017	Baton Rouge Regionals	First game Second game Third game	Louisiana–Lafayette Fairfield LSU	L 0–6 W 6–2 L 1–10 (6 inn)
2018	College Station Regionals	First game Second game Third game	Baylor Texas A&M Baylor	W 11–10 L 1–10 (6 inn) L 0–6
2021	Baton Rouge Regionals	First game Second game Third game	LSU George Washington Louisiana	L 2–10 (6 inn) W 12–0 (5 inn) L 0–4

NISC Tournament results

The Cowgirls have appeared in one NISC tournament. Their record is 3–2.

Year	Part	Round	Opponent	Result/score
NISC Tournament Results
2019	Stephen F. Austin Regionals	First game Second game Third game Fourth game Regional championship	Middle Tennessee UT Arlington Stephen F. Austin UT Arlington UT Arlington	W 7–3 L 3–5 W 3–1 W 6–1 L 3–4 (10 inn)

Awards and honors

Conference awards

Sources:^[6]

Southland Conference Player of the Year

Heather Moreaux 2000
Alanna DiVittorio 2014
Erika Piancastelli 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Southland Conference Hitter of the Year

Kerry Riggs 1994
Heather Moreaux 2000
Alanna DiVittorio 2014
Erika Piancastelli 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year

Rikki Fontenot 2002
Christina Allen 2006
Erika Piancastelli 2015

Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year

Angella Harrison 1994
Jamie Allred 2014
Rachel Smith 2017

Southland Conference Utility Player of the Year

Jenny Clay 2007, 08

Southland Conference Coach of the Year

Scott Eastman 1994
Natalie Poole 2009
Mike Smith 2013, 2014
James Landreneau 2017

All Conference First Team

Tammy Guidry 1983
Joni Talbot 1987
Angela Harrison 1994
Keri Riggs 1994, 1995
Shyla Sicks 1994
Kerri Chiasson 1995
Natalie Poole 1995, 1996, 1997
Kathy Sturgeon 1995
Sarah Everingham 1997, 1998
Heather Moreaux 2000
Tania Zanet 2000
Beth Jordan 2002, 2005
Stephanie Denham 2003
Brooke Broadhead 2007
Jenny Clay 2008
Claire Terracina 2011, 2012
Ashley Modzelewski 2012, 2013, 2014
Meagan Bond 2013
Alanna DiVittorio 2013, 2014
Jamie Allred 2014
Erika Piancastelli 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Bryanna Castro 2015
Lauren Langner 2015
Hailey Drew 2016
Morgan Catron 2016, 2018
Emily Vincent 2016
Alexandria Saldivar 2017, 2018
Justyce McClain 2017, 2018, 2019
Rachel Smith 2017

References

^ "McNeese State Athletics Style Guide" (PDF). January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Southland Conference 2015 Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. pp. 11–38. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "McNeese Softball Task Force 36" (PDF). McNeese State University. pp. 42–52. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
^ "Archived Team-by-Team Final Statistics". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
^ "2015 Southland Conference softball tournament" (PDF). Southland Conference. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
^ "2020 SB Record Book (PDF) - Southland Conference" (PDF). www.southland.org. Retrieved 17 December 2020.

External links

Official website

[1] "McNeese State Athletics Style Guide" (PDF). January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.

[SLC_Media-2] "Southland Conference 2015 Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. pp. 11–38. Retrieved May 20, 2015.

[Media_Guide-3] "McNeese Softball Task Force 36" (PDF). McNeese State University. pp. 42–52. Retrieved May 19, 2015.

[4] "Archived Team-by-Team Final Statistics". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved February 6, 2015.

[5] "2015 Southland Conference softball tournament" (PDF). Southland Conference. Retrieved May 18, 2015.

[6] "2020 SB Record Book (PDF) - Southland Conference" (PDF). www.southland.org. Retrieved 17 December 2020.

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v t e McNeese Cowgirls softball
Venues	Unknown (1979–2002) Joe Miller Field at Cowgirl Diamond (2003– )
Culture & lore	History
Coaches	Cathy Cunningham (1979–1980) Jim Draudt (1981–1982) Vicky Chapman (1983) Cheryl Manuel (1984–1985) Cherilyn Lantrip (1986–1987) Rose Ruffino (1988–1992) Scott Eastman (1993–2004) Chris Malveaux (2005–2008) Natalie Poole (2009–2011) Mike Smith (2012–2014) Joanna Hardin (2015–2016) James Landreneau (2017–present)
NCAA tournament appearances	1994 2005 2010 2016 2017 2018
Seasons	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e McNeese State University
Campus	Cowboy Stadium The Legacy Center Joe Miller Ballpark Joe Miller Field at Cowgirl Diamond Ralph O. Ward Memorial Arena
Athletics	McNeese Cowboys and Cowgirls Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Softball
Student life	Recreational Sports Complex

v t e Southland Conference softball
Teams	East Texas A&M Lions Houston Christian Huskies Incarnate Word Cardinals Lamar Lady Cardinals McNeese State Cowgirls Nicholls Colonels Northwestern State Lady Demons Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Islanders
Championship	Southland Conference softball tournament