NEW ORLEANS –
Kaleb Fontenot's historic consecutive scoreless inning streak came to an end Friday night but it wasn't until after the senior right-hander cemented his name into the Southland Conference record books as he moved into second place all-time in consecutive blank frames tossed with 32.2 while helping the McNeese baseball team past New Orleans, 6-1, to pick up the league series opener at Maestri Ballpark.
Fontenot (4-2), who set the school record for consecutive scoreless innings last weekend, moved into second place on the all-time league blank frames list after having surpassed Lamar's Mike Morgal, who threw 32. 1 frames in 1978.
Despite giving up just his second earned run in 42.2 innings of league work, Fontenot remained calm and settled as he picked up the win in a 7.0 inning start. He scattered seven hits while surrendering the only run of the night. He moved up to fourth on the McNeese all-time strikeouts after having struck out 10 batters in the game.
The victory pushed the Pokes to a 16-11 overall record and an 8-5 mark in league play while UNO fell to 18-11 on the year and 4-6 in SLC action. The Cowboys have now won seven straight against the Privateers dating back to 2014.
"It was a total team win," said McNeese head coach
Justin Hill. "Everyone who touched the field affected the game in a positive way.
Kaleb Fontenot was outstanding and I was proud of our bullpen. Friday nights are tough, especially on the road, and our guys had great energy and came to win."
The Cowboys dealt UNO just its second loss in 17 home contests as they strung together 11 hits with four players collecting multiple-hit outings. Sophomore
Joe Provenzano led with three hits on the night while junior
Matt Gallier was most impressive with two hits, a run scored and two RBI.
McNeese wasted no time putting runs on the board as freshman
Shane Selman collected his second triple of the season in the top of the first that drove in a run while Provenzano's RBI-single got the Pokes out to a 2-0 lead.
Matt Gallier's two-RBI effort in the third extended McNeese's lead to a 4-0 ballgame.
The multiple-RBI effort was Gallier's six of the season.
New Orleans threatened the lead with a run in the fifth but was shut down the rest of the way by Fontenot and the Cowboy relief corp.
Austin Briggs and
Trent Fontenot combined to throw the next three innings and finished the game without allowing a run.
The stamp was put on the game in the final inning as senior
Lewis Guilbeau drove in a run to cushion the Cowboys' lead to a 6-1 score.
The two squads will meet again Saturday afternoon with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. The game can be viewed live for a fee at UNOPrivateers.com while others can keep up with the action by following @McNeeseBaseball on Twitter.
McNeese 6, New Orleans 1 (Apr 08, 2016 at New Orleans, La.)
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McNeese............. 202 000 011 - 6 11 0 (16-11, 8-5 SLC)
New Orleans......... 000 010 000 - 1 7 1 (18-12, 4-6 SLC)
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Pitchers: McNeese - Fontenot, Kaleb; Briggs, Austin(8); Fontenot, Trent(8) and Toole, Cameron.
New Orleans - Semple, Shawn; Priddle, Jordan(6) and Bracey, Kyle.
Win-Fontenot, Kaleb(4-2) Loss-Semple, Shawn(4-2) T-2:41 A-562
Fontenot, K. faced 1 batter in the 8th.
