SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Friday evening's weekend series opener turned into a pure slobber knocker with the McNeese baseball team coming out of the bout victorious as the Cowboys battled past a salty UTSA team, 11-8, at Roadrunner Field in San Antonio.
The night was composed of several key components that factored into an event that most baseball fan's dream of. The teams combined for 22 hits, 11 walks, six doubles and five errors along with a slew of exciting plays that kept both teams neck and neck on the scoreboard throughout the contest.
McNeese improved to a 3-2 mark on the season while the Roadrunners were knocked down to a 3-2 record through their first five games this year.
The Pokes lit up the scoreboard first in the top of second inning as
Matt Gallier's single and a fielding error allowed designated hitter
Todd Hinkley to reach home, giving McNeese a 1-0 lead.
Kaleb Fontenot's string of 11 consecutive batters retired was ended in the fourth frame along with a no-hitter that was broken up by UTSA's C.J. Pickering. The senior right-hander tossed 5.1 innings and allowed only one earned run and scattered six hits with two walks. He struck out six batters along the way.
A pair of doubles allowed the Roadrunners to tie up the game in the fifth inning but the Cowboys were able to end the frame on the same play that the second run was scored, outing out the initial hitter at second.
McNeese increased its lead by two runs in the top half of the sixth frame that was jumpstarted by senior
Connor Crane's RBI-single that plated freshman
Shane Selman. Later in the inning, Crane scraped across a run following a UTSA wild pitch, making the score 3-1 in favor of McNeese.
Crane was the hero of the night for the Cowboys as he recorded a career-high four hits in four batting attempts. He was the catalyst behind a majority of McNeese's scoring throughout the night with three runs scored and an RBI.
The Roadrunners knotted the score again in the bottom of the frame with two runs but it wasn't until the seventh inning that the gates were opened wide. With two outs and the bases juiced, Crane struck again with a single into the outfield but it was a UTSA throwing error that cleared the bases and gave McNeese a commanding 7-3 lead over the Roadrunners.
UTSA cut into the lead again with a 3-run seventh inning but McNeese tacked on two more runs in the top of the eighth inning on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch that upped the lead to a 9-6 score.
McNeese took advantage of UTSA hiccups throughout the next two innings to take a commanding five run lead headed into the ninth.
The Roadrunners' attempt at a comeback fell short in the bottom of the last frame after scoring two to cut the lead to three runs.
Trent Fontenot picked up the win after coming into the game to work relief. He worked 1.1 innings and surrendered just one earned run and one hit.
Junior ace reliever
Collin Kober was credited with his second save of the season after pitching the last two innings.
McNeese pounded out 14 hits during the game while UTSA collected nine. Junior
Matt Gallier led the team with two RBI's on the night while seven Cowboys in total posted a hit.
The Pokes will be back in action on Saturday with a 2 o'clock meeting with UTSA. The game can be followed via live stats on GoUTSA.com or by following @McNeeseBaseball on Twitter.
