LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese State baseball team is prepared for a showdown with former Southland Conference member UTSA this weekend when the Roadrunners come to town for a three-game stand beginning Friday evening at 6 p.m.
McNeese (5-4) returns to Cowboy Diamond after one of the biggest mid-week contests in recent program history. The Pokes upended rival Louisiana-Lafayette in an exciting 17-inning marathon with a 5-4 victory over the Cajuns. The win snapped the Cowboys' four-game losing skid.
McNeese is expected to start a pair of right-handers with Kaleb Fontenot on Friday and
Bryce Kingsley on Saturday. Sunday's starter has yet to be announced. Together, Fontenot and Kingsley have tossed 24.1 innings and have allowed only six earned runs and have combined for 27 strikeouts.
Junior
Lewis Guilbeau leads the Cowboys with a .345 (10-for-29) batting average after collecting three hits against Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday. Guilbeau has 10 hits, two doubles, four walks and a stolen base this season. Junior
Connor Crane is second on the team with a .342 clip and leads the team with 13 hits, five doubles, a triple and two homers.
The Roadrunners, led by third-year head coach Jason Marshall, come into the weekend series with a 6-2 record after opening up the season with a series wins against Louisiana-Lafayette and Bryant and also posting a win against Incarnate Word on Tuesday. UTSA's trip to Southwest Louisiana will be its first weekend journey of the season with their only other away contest being played at Texas on Feb. 17.
Starting for the Roadrunners is right-hander Brock Hartson and left-handers Nolan Trabanino and Cody Brannon. Hartson currently has a 6.75 ERA in two starts and has given up 14 hits and seven earned runs through 9.1 innings. Trabanino is 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA through 9.2 innings of work along with 10 hits and six runs. Brannon has a 4.63 ERA in four appearances and has given up six runs and 11 hits in 11.2 innings.
The UTSA pitching staff has posted a 6.10 ERA through 62.0 innings of work. The Roadrunners have given up a total of 45 runs combined and 79 hits while walking 27 total batters and striking out 55.
UTSA enters the game batting .272 as a team and is led by Kevin Markham, who is hitting .476 in six games along with a team-high 10 hits, two homers and has knocked in two runs and stolen one base.
Friday's game as well as Sunday's can be heard on Cajun Radio-1470 AM in Lake Charles and online at cajunradio.com with Tom Hoefer calling the action as well as follow every pitch via live stats available at mcneesesports.com and through in-game updates on the program's Twitter handle @McNeeseBaseball.
Fans will also be able to catch the game via live video and live stats by logging on to McNeeseSports.com/live. A 24-hour pass is available for $6.95 on the network while fans can also catch every game for a whole year for only $69.95.
