MONROE – A pair of long balls was the difference maker in Tuesday evening's contest between the McNeese State baseball team and the University of Louisiana at Monroe as the Warhawks powered their way to a 7-3 victory over the Cowboys to take the first of a two-game series at Warhawk Field.

Both teams will be back in action on Wednesday when they meet in second game of the series. First pitch is slated for a 6 o'clock start with fans being able to listen to the contest on Cajun Radio-1470 AM and on CajunRadio.com.

McNeese (20-13) got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top half of the second inning following an RBI-bunt from catcher Cameron Toole and a run that was plated following a ULM fielding error.

The Warhawks (16-14) responded in the bottom of the inning as Danny Springer deposited a two-run homer over the left field wall to tie the ballgame at two runs apiece. ULM would eventually find themselves in a three run lead over the Pokes after five innings.

The Cowboys scratched across a run in the top of the sixth inning following a sacrifice fly from Lucas Quary and cut the ULM lead to just two runs.

The Warhawks responded with another tater hit by Jacob Stockton that scored two more runs and extend the ULM lead to a four run advantage over McNeese.

Bryce Kingsley (3-3) received the loss after working the first three innings and surrendered three runs on two hits along with two strikeouts.

The Pokes used four relief pitchers that combined for six innings and gave up four runs on eight hits. The quartet of pitchers totaled eight strikeouts in the game.

Despite the loss, the Cowboys were able to pound out eight hits and received multiple-hit performances from Connor Lloyd (2-for-3 with one run scored) and Billy Sommers (2-for-3). The two-hit performance was Lloyd's 12 this season which ranks him fourth best among on the team. Quary turned in a 1-for-3 ledger along with an RBI and a run scored. Toole knocked in the first run of the ballgame.

ULM 7, McNeese 3 (Apr 07, 2015 at Monroe, La.)
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McNeese............. 020 001 000  -  3  8  1      (20-13)
ULM................. 021 022 00X  -  7 10  1      (16-14)
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Pitchers: McNeese - Kingsley, Bryce; Sefcik, Lance(4); Williams, Jacob(6); Erickson, Tyler(7);
Brast, Clay(7) and Toole, Cameron. ULM - Coddou, P.; Mason, W.(7); Dopson, L.(9) and Todd, D..
Win-Coddou, P.(1-0)  Loss-Kingsley, Bryce(3-3)  T-2:17  A-850
HR ULM - Springer, D. (5); Stockton, J. (1).
Weather: 82F,Fair,W:S@14,Gust:21,H:61%