LAKE CHARLES – Junior right-hander Kaleb Fontenot turned in another quality start for the McNeese State baseball club on Friday night but the Cowboys were unable to get anything going offensively and fell to Abilene Christian, 5-0, in game one of the weekend series at Crutcher Scott Field.

The Cowboys (15-7, 5-2 SLC) were handcuffed  for the fifth time this season after leaving 12 runners stranded on base despite recording nine hits on the night.

Fontenot (3-2) received the loss after tossing 7.0 innings and allowed only three runs off of seven hits and three walks. He fanned six batters in the process and now leads the team with 36 strikeouts on the season. The quality start was Fontenot's fourth this year.

With the victory, Abilene Christian improved to 4-14 overall and 3-4 in Southland Conference play.

The Wildcats received a superb start from winning pitcher Garrett DeMeyere who held the Pokes scoreless for 7.1 innings while scattering seven hits and only walk.

He was followed by two Wildcats relievers who worked the final two innings and allowed only two hits.

Two Cowboy batters turned in multiple-hit performances in the contest as senior Connor Lloyd and freshman Joe Provenzano each hit three times. Lloyd turned in the only extra base hit on the night while Provenzano submitted his third multi-hit game on the season.

In total, five McNeese batters recorded a hit in the game.

McNeese threatened to score in the top of the second inning as freshman Joe Provenzano's two-out single advanced runners to second and third base but a foul out prevented any runs from scoring.

Following back-to-back strikeouts to lead off the bottom of the second, ACU used a walk and two hits, highlighted by a two-RBI triple from Kyle Carroll to take a 2-0 lead over McNeese.

The Pokes were able to get a runner on third again in the third frame following Lloyd's extra-base hit but were not able to do anything and were retired on a pop up.

The Wildcats plated another run in the fourth inning off of a sacrifice fly to go up by three runs over the Cowboys.

A pair of insurance runs was tacked on by ACU in the eighth inning that stretched the lead to a 5-0 score over McNeese.

The Pokes will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Abilene Christian in game two of the weekend series. The game can be heard on Cajun Radio-1470 AM in Lake Charles or on CajunRadio.com.

For the latest news and updates, follow McNeese Baseball on Facebook and on Twitter using @McNeeseBaseball.

Abilene Christian 5, McNeese 0 (Mar 20, 2015 at Abilene, Texas)
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McNeese............. 000 000 000  -  0  9  0      (15-7, 5-2 SLC)
Abilene Christian... 020 100 02X  -  5 10  3      (4-14, 3-4 SLC)
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Pitchers: McNeese - Fontenot, Kaleb; Erickson, Tyler(8); Brast, Clay(8); Briggs, Austin(8) and
Toole, Cameron. Abilene Christian - G. deMeyere; L. Zotyka(8); K. Sheets(9) and A. Copeland.
Win-G. deMeyere(2-2)  Loss-Fontenot, Kaleb(3-2)  T-2:33  A-465
Weather: Cloudy, cool, rain
Erickson, T. faced 1 batter in the 8th.