LAKE CHARLES – Senior hurler
Kaleb Fontenot continued his mastery on the mound by setting a new school record of 28 consecutive shutout innings but unfortunately didn't factor into the decision Friday night. It was freshman
Zach Rider who turned out to be the hero of the game by knocking in the winning run in his first at-bat of the season to help lead the McNeese baseball team to a 2-1 series opening victory over Northwestern State in a 15-inning battle.
Fontenot's performance helped the Ville Platte native become the all-time consecutive scoreless innings leader as he blew by Blake Ware's record of 24 set in 2013. All three of Fontenot's complete game shutouts this season have come against Southland Conference opponents.
The Ville Platte native turned in his third complete game after having worked 10.0 innings and allowed no runs to score on two hits. He struck out eight batters and walked only one in the process. He bettered his ERA to a team-best 1.39 on the season.
With the bases loaded and two outs starting him down, Rider was not phased as he swung on the first Northwestern State pitch of the plate appearance and crushed the offering into right field for the walk-off win against the Demons. Rider entered earlier in the contest as a pinch runner and finished with a hit, a run scored and an RBI.
"I didn't know if anyone was going to score at first," said head coach
Justin Hill. "They (Northwestern State) cracked through and we had our opportunities early to win the game but it didn't work out. We have to execute better but our kids were able to move on and I am proud of our guys on how we fought. Whether we had won or lost, it would have been the same. It was exciting towards the end but we kept fighting back and it was a fun one tonight."
Perhaps one of the most memorable moments of the night occurred in the 14
th frame as freshman
Dustin Duhon, who recently lost his grandfather and former Westlake High School football coach Max Caldarera, shot a two-out single through the right side and delivered the tying run to help prolong the game and eventually give McNeese the opportunity for the win. The Demons had took the lead in the top of the frame on a one-out single.
Senior catcher
Cameron Toole led the hitting effort with three hits on the night while eight different Pokes collected a hit in the game. Senior
Connor Crane reached base five times with a hit and four walks while also stealing three bases. He leads the team with 12 swipes this year.
Trent Fontenot (2-1) picked up the win with a 1.1 inning outing as he shut down the Demons with no runs and no hits allowed. He and middle reliever
Collin Kober combined for the last five frames and struck out six total batters.
Northwestern State's starter Adam Oller was excellent on the mound for the Demons with 8.1 innings of work and no runs scored despite four hits scattered. He struck out four in the appearance.
The two squads will be back in action Saturday afternoon with first pitch slated for a 3 p.m. start. The team will recognize Mr. Joe Miller prior to the start of the contest.
McNeese 2, Northwestern State 1 (Apr 01, 2016 at Lake Charles, La.)
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Northwestern State.. 000 000 000 000 010 - 1 6 0 (14-12, 5-5 SLC)
McNeese............. 000 000 000 000 011 - 2 10 0 (14-9, 7-3 SLC)
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Pitchers: Northwestern State - Oller, Adam; Reich, Austin(9); Bear, Devin(12);
Swanson, Kyle(13); Jones, Nathan(14); Aultman, Nathan(15) and Garner, Daniel. McNeese -
Fontenot, Kaleb; Kober, Collin(11); Fontenot, Trent(14) and Toole, Cameron; Duhon, Dustin.
Win-Fontenot, Trent(2-1) Loss-Jones, Nathan(1-1) T-4:26 A-597
Weather: 64; Overcast; Wind: 15 NNE
