The McNeese Cowboys baseball team eliminated the Lamar Cardinals 14-4 in just seven innings on Saturday afternoon in Hammond. The win propels McNeese into the Southland Championship game against Nicholls.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Playing in an elimination game, McNeese wasted no time getting their offense rolling. In the top of the first, Conner Westenburg opened the scoring with a two-run single. That was followed up by an Elliot Hebert two-run homer. That was not all, as Peyton LeJeune continued his tremendous tournament with yet another two-run shot. Finally, Simon Larranaga added an RBI single to make it 7-0 McNeese.
The Cowboys started Zach Voss, who also started their first tournament game against Northwestern State. He allowed a Zak Skinner RBI double in the first, but that was all in the inning. The Cowboys answered in the top of the third, as Chase Keeton delivered an RBI double.
Lamar got things going in the third, and it was two familiar names. River Orsak, who homered five times in their two games yesterday, got it going with a two-run home run. That was followed by a solo shot from Skinner, making it 8-4.
In the top of the fourth, McNeese added two more runs. One came on a fielder’s choice, and one came on a wild pitch. That made the lead 10-4 as Ty Abraham came on to try to hold things down on the mound.
Abraham was excellent out of the bullpen for McNeese. He worked a couple of scoreless innings, keeping the lead at six. In the top of the seventh, Westernburg added another RBI single and Hebert launched a three-run homer to make it a 10 run lead, putting the Cowboys in line for the 10-run rule.
Abraham shut things down, completing four and two-thirds scoreless innings of relief to invoke the 10-run rule in a 14-4 win for the Cowboys.
BIG NUMBER: 10
McNeese used the 10-run rule to win this game over Lamar and book their ticket to the championship game. Additionally, the shortened game allowed the Cowboys to save more pitching that can be used in the title game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Elliot Hebert
Two home runs and five RBIs paced the McNeese offense, and they came from Elliot Hebert. He helped them surge out to a big lead, and extend it even further in the late innings.
UP NEXT: McNeese will face Nicholls in the Southland Championship game tonight at 6:00 PM in Hammond.