BEAUMONT, Texas – A five-run, fifth inning surge helped the McNeese baseball team rally from an early deficit and even the series with No. 25 Lamar by capturing a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals Saturday afternoon at Vincent-Beck Stadium in Beaumont.
Trailing by two runs, McNeese (21-12, 11-6 SLC) used four hits, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch to plate five unanswered and take its first lead over Lamar (26-9, 11-3 SLC) in the series. It seemed as though the inning would be short lived until freshman
Shane Selman used a two-out RBI-single that sparked a string of three consecutive hits accompanied by RBI's. Senior
Connor Crane did the most damage in the frame as he scored two off a single through the left side. Sophomore
Joe Provenzano also drove in a run during the game while another was scored off of a passed ball.
The Cardinals cut into the lead in the bottom of the next inning with a pair of runs to make it a 5-4 ballgame but fortunately for McNeese there was no more offensive power left in Lamar as it placed just one runner on base throughout the next three innings.
McNeese continued to make program history Saturday by capturing a program best fourth victory over a ranked opponent. Other wins posted this season have come against No. 16 UL-Lafayette, No. 24 Houston, No. 9 LSU as well as Lamar.
The Cowboys' win on Saturday also snapped Lamar's 10-game home winning streak.
McNeese starter
Bryan King (4-1) picked up the win for the Cowboys after having worked five frames and gave up four runs and scattered five hits. He recorded five punch outs and only two walks.
Junior reliever
Collin Kober picked up his sixth save this year following his work on the mound in the last two innings of the contest where he allowed only one hit and no runs. Kober now stands just one save from tying Chad Clement for the McNeese all-time record.
Six Cowboys collected a hit in the ballgame and were led by Crane's two RBI, one run scored performance. Crane now leads the team with 10 multiple-RBI efforts this season.
The Pokes left seven on base during the game while Lamar stranded five on base. Each team hit six times during the contest.
The squads will meet one last time for the series rubber match Sunday afternoon with first pitch slated for a 1 o'clock start.
McNeese 5, Lamar University 4 (Apr 16, 2016 at Beaumont, Texas)
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McNeese............. 000 050 000 - 5 6 0 (21-12, 11-6 SLC)
Lamar University.... 020 002 000 - 4 6 0 (26-9, 11-3 SLC)
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Pitchers: McNeese - King, Bryan; Fontenot, Trent(6); Kober, Collin(8) and Toole, Cameron.
Lamar University - Love, B.; Oquendo, E.(5); Martinez, F.(9) and Arredondo, B.
Win-King, Bryan(4-1) Save-Kober, Collin(6) Loss-Love, B.(3-2) T-2:39 A-979
Weather: 79 degrees and cloudy
King, B. faced 3 batters in the 6th.
