LAKE CHARLES – Senior Lucas Quary put forth one of the most impressive performances of the season on Sunday as his two home runs and six RBIs were catalysts in the McNeese State baseball team's series sweeping 12-1 victory over Incarnate Word on Sunday at Cowboy Diamond.

After fighting through some early season struggles at the plate, Quary found his niche over the weekend and shined as he belted three bombs and drove in a total of seven runs to help McNeese improve to a 14-6 overall record and a 5-1 mark in Southland Conference play.

"Lucas has been swinging the bat well for us this season," said head coach Justin Hill. "I know that he did not have any hits to show for it on Friday but he has squared some balls up and has had some good at-bats. We continue to see that each day and that is why we feel comfortable about him."

UIW dropped its second consecutive league series with the loss and is now 7-13 overall and 1-5 in league play this season.

The series sweep is the first for the Cowboys since doing so last season against New Orleans.

The Pokes logged one of their best weekends at the diamond as they accounted for 38 total hits on the weekend that included 10 doubles, five home runs, a triple and 32 RBIs. The pitching staff limited the Cardinals to only 10 runs (eight earned) off of 28 hits through 25.0 innings of work. The McNeese hurlers struck out a combined 21 batters and walked only five in the series.

"We played well, swung the bats well and played good defense this weekend," said Hill. "Our guys have done a good job of making adjustments and it's something that you teach. Coach Vaz has harped on our guys to take the information and do something with it at the plate. Today they did and it was big for them because UIW's pitcher came in with a really good ERA."

Senior James Cantu had an outstanding day at the plate where he batted 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Shortstop Connor Lloyd followed up with a 2-for-4 showing at the dish and also knocked in two runs on the day. Four Cowboys were able to run in both multiple-hit and multiple-RBI performances in the contest.

Senior Andrew Guillotte had another career day at the plate as he went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base. With the two hits, Guillotte became just the sixth player in McNeese baseball history to record 200 or more hits in a career. He is now one hit away from tying Stuart Landreneau for fifth all-time.

McNeese junior right-hander Trent Fontenot (2-1) earned the victory, allowing just one run on three hits and three walks while striking out six in five innings of work.

Fontenot received some help from the Cowboy defense who were able to turn three double plays in the game.

With a two run lead in the third inning and two runners on base, Quary lifted a no-doubter over the left field wall to extend McNeese's lead to a 5-0 score. In total, the Cowboys scored a total of 15 runs in the third inning throughout the three-game series.

The Cowboys added six more runs in the next frame as Cantu sent a two-RBI single into centerfield while Crane's base-hit allowed Cantu to score and make it 8-0.

Just like the previous inning, Quary came to the plate with runners on the corners and two outs. On the third pitch of the at-bat, Quary again sent another upper-decker over the left field wall and put the Cowboys up 11-0.

UIW avoided the shutout in the fifth inning with a home run of its own while McNeese added a insurance run in the bottom of the frame with an RBI-hit from Lloyd.

The Cowboys will be back in action on Monday when they welcome Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to town for a non-conference tilt. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m.

McNeese is projected to send right-hander Ethan Stremmel to the mound while the Islanders are slated to start right-hander Darren Skapura.

AMCC (8-6, 2-1 SLC) took two of three from Nicholls over the weekend and have now won four of its last five contests.

Monday night is $1 Hot Dog Night at the ballpark while 600 pounds of free crawfish will be provided for the first 200 students in attendance.

McNeese 12, Incarnate Word 1 (Mar 15, 2015 at Lake Charles, La.)
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Incarnate Word...... 000 010 0 -  1  4  2      (7-13, 1-5 SLC)
McNeese............. 005 610 X - 12 15  0      (14-6, 5-1 SLC)
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Pitchers: Incarnate Word - Cooper, Garret; Hardee, Trevor(4); Encina, Geno(5); Miller, Tyler(6)
and Divelbiss, Christian. McNeese - Fontenot, Trent; Williams, Jacob(6) and Toole, Cameron;
LaRosa, Garrett.
Win-Fontenot, Trent(2-1)  Loss-Cooper, Garret(3-2)  T-2:16  A-613
HR UIW - Kahle, Brance (1).
HR MCN - Quary, Lucas 2 (3).
Weather: 71; Partly Sunny; Win: 6 S
Cooper, G. faced 3 batters in the 4th.