LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese State baseball team scattered 10 hits and used two runs to take game one of Friday's Southland Conference doubleheader to defeat Houston Baptist, 2-1, before the Huskies avoided a late comeback from the Cowboys to score a 4-3 victory and tie the series up.
 
Both teams will meet in the rubber match on Saturday with first pitch slated for a 1 p.m. start.
 
Tomorrow's game can be viewed by clicking on the Live Stats link under the Baseball page on McNeeseSports.com
 
McNeese moved to 10-5 overall on the season and 1-1 in league play while HBU got to 7-7 overall and a 1-1 mark in conference action.
 
Below is a recap from both games:
 
Game One: McNeese State 2, Houston Baptist 1
 
The Cowboys used RBI hits from senior Connor Lloyd and junior Billy Sommers to propel past Houston Baptist and score a 2-1 victory in the opening series contest.
 
McNeese recorded double digit hits for the ninth time in 14 contests this season as the Cowboys used 10 hits over the Huskies.
  
Five different McNeese batters recorded two or more hits in the game and were led Guillotte who batted 2-for-5 along with an RBI and a run scored. Junior Connor Crane also recorded two doubles in the game and now leads the conference with eight on the season.
 
Junior Kaleb Fontenot (2-1) picked up the win for the Cowboys after tossing 6.0 innings and allowed only one run to score off of five hits and a walk. Fontenot fanned six batters in the process.
 
The first seven innings provided scoreless action for spectators with HBU having a chance to get on the board in the fifth inning. Following a T. Clay fielder's choice, the Huskies had a runner in scoring position but were unable to capitalize after a flyout ended the inning.
 
However, the first contest would not remain scoreless for long as the Pokes used a four hit, two run seventh inning to take control of the scoreboard. Guillotte put the Cowboys on the board first following a two out single up the middle that allowed Matt Gallier to score.
 
After a steal allowed Guillotte to reach second, Sommers' RBI-single down the right field line knocked in another run and gave McNeese a 2-0 lead. The stolen base was the 65^th of Guillotte's career.
 
HBU looked to overcome the odds in the bottom of the inning as Z. Garcia drove a single down the right field line to cut the lead in half and make the score a 2-1 lead.
 
Relievers Collin Kober and Cory LaPeze remained calm during the remaining few innings to help deliver the Cowboys their 10^th win of the year.
 
LaPeze was credited with his third save of the season after pitching the last two outs of the game and not allowing a hit or a run.
 
McNeese 2, Houston Baptist 1 (Mar 06, 2015 at Houston, Texas) (Game 1)
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McNeese............. 000 000 200  -  2 10  0      (10-4, 1-0 SLC)
Houston Baptist..... 000 000 100  -  1  8  2      (6-7, 0-1 SLC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: McNeese - Fontenot, Kaleb; Kober, Collin(7); LaPeze, Cory(9) and Toole, Cameron.
Houston Baptist - Wright, T.; Harding, M.(7); Zarosky, D.(8) and Wiggins, S..
Win-Fontenot, Kaleb(2-1)  Save-LaPeze, Cory(3)  Loss-Wright, T.(2-2)  T-2:54  A-284
Weather: 39 deg, clear, NE 12 mph
Fontenot, K. faced 1 batter in the 7th.
 
Game Two: Houston Baptist 4, McNeese State 3
 
Roles were reversed in game two of the twin bill on Friday as McNeese found itself in a deficit and almost came from behind in the final inning before being cut short to snap a six-game win streak.
 
With a three run lead in the final frame, Houston Baptist looked as though it had secured an easy victory until the Pokes used three consecutive base hits to juice the bases with no outs.
 
On the next play, junior Cameron Toole belted a 2-RBI single into left center allowing Connor Lloyd and James Cantu to score and cut the lead to a one run lead.
 
Following a pitching change, the Huskies were able to hang on and shut down the last three McNeese batters and even the series.
 
Once again, the Pokes were led by Guillotte's three hits in the contest along with a scored run. Also recording multi-hit contests were Lloyd, Gallier and junior Lewis Guilbeau.
 
Junior Bryce Kingsley (2-2) was charged with the loss after tossing 5.2 innings and gave up only two runs on eights hits while he struck out six batters.
 
HBU took a one run lead in the third inning while McNeese knotted the score in the top of the sixth frame following Guilbeau's RBI single.
 
The Huskies tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the eighth inning to take a 4-1 lead.
 
Houston Baptist 4, McNeese 3 (Mar 06, 2015 at Houston, Texas) (Game 2)
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McNeese............. 000 001 002  -  3 12  0      (10-5, 1-1 SLC)
Houston Baptist..... 001 001 02X  -  4 10  0      (7-7, 1-1 SLC)
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Pitchers: McNeese - Kingsley, Bryce; Prejean, Cole(6) and Toole, Cameron. Houston Baptist -
McCollough; Hammerly, B.(7); Garza, C.(9) and Wiggins, S..
Win-McCollough(3-1)  Save-Garza, C.(2)  Loss-Kingsley, Bryce(2-2)  T-2:25  A-284
HR HBU - Wiggins, S. (2).
Weather: 50 deg, clear, calm
Hammerly, B. faced 1 batter in the 9th.