SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A trio of McNeese freshmen had a career day on the diamond as each combined for seven hits and five runs driven in as the Cowboy baseball team was defeated by UTSA, 11-5, Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field.
 
Dustin Duhon, Shane Selman and Jake Cochran, all natives of Lake Charles and Moss Bluff, were instrumental in creating runs for McNeese (3-4) in the series finale. The three players all enjoyed career highs in both hitting and RBI's Sunday afternoon.
 
Duhon, the grandson of legendary McNeese basketball head coach Glenn Duhon, batted 3-for-4 at the plate including his second inning single that scored a pair of runs to give the Cowboys an early 2-0 lead. Selman collected three hits on the day with an RBI while Cochran drove in two runs.
 
Unfortunately, McNeese was unable to hold off a talented UTSA (5-2) squad that used five hits, including two doubles and homer, as well as a fielding error to drive home six runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Roadrunners were able to extend their lead with two runs in the fourth along with three in the eighth inning. UTSA led the day with 13 hits while the Pokes followed closely with 11.
 
Selman and Cochran launched their first career taters Sunday afternoon. Selman cut into the lead with a solo homer in the eighth inning while Cochran came in to pinch hit and knocked a two-run tater out of the park to decrease UTSA's lead to an 11-5 score.
 
Ethan Stremmel (1-1) had a strong day on the mound as he collected five strikeouts but ran into a few hurdles along the way with seven earned runs off of nine hits for the charged loss.
 
UTSA's starting pitcher Andrew Burns tossed eight innings and surrendered only one earned run despite giving up nine hits. He struck out six along the way.
 
Sophomore Joe Provenzano joined Selman and Duhon as the only Cowboys to record multiple hits on the day. Provenzano went 4-for-9 over the entire weekend, including two doubles and an RBI.
 
McNeese will be back in action Wednesday evening as the Pokes welcome in-state rival UL-Lafayette to Cowboy Diamond for a mid-week showdown set to begin at 6 p.m.
 
UTSA 11, McNeese 5 (Feb 28, 2016 at San Antonio, Texas)
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McNeese............. 020 000 012  -  5 11  1      (3-4)
UTSA................ 060 200 03X  - 11 14  1      (5-2)
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Pitchers: McNeese - Stremmel, Ethan; Ramirez, Ricky(5); Rider, Zach(7); Anderson, Grant(8) and
Duhon, Dustin. UTSA - Burns; Brookover(9) and George.
Win-Burns(1-0)  Loss-Stremmel, Ethan(1-1)  T-2:45  A-365
HR MCN - Selman, Shane (1); Cochran, Jake (1).
HR UTSA - Hilston (1); Valentine (2).
Weather: Beautiful day for baseball!