PULLMAN, Wash. – The McNeese baseball team opened its final regular season series with a statement victory Thursday evening as senior right-hander Kaleb Fontenot's solid outing helped the Cowboys score a 10-2 victory over Pac-12 member Washington State in the first of four games in Pullman, Washington.
 
Fontenot (5-5) was nothing short of impressive as he worked 7.0 innings and allowed no runs to score despite scattering three hits and a walk. The Ville Platte native had a perfect game going up until the fourth frame but held on to strike out six batters during the session to set a career-high in strikeouts with 96 this season.
 
Thursday's contest was Fontenot's ninth quality start this season, the best on the Cowboy pitching staff.
 
With the victory, McNeese (27-22) has now recorded four victories over Power Five conference teams including Houston, LSU, Baylor and now Washington State. The loss dropped the Cougars to 17-3 on the season.
 
Aidan Anderson and Zach Rider preserved the win by working the last two frames in relief and allowed only two runs to score.
 
McNeese belted out 12 hits in the ballgame and was led by senior Lewis Guilbeau's 3-for-4 effort along with an RBI and a run scored. Senior Connor Crane and shortstop Will Fox each had two hits in the ballgame. Crane and Guilbeau each have 20 multiple hit games this season.
 
Crane, Fox and senior catcher Cameron Toole each drove in two runs during the game. Crane now has a team-high 14 multiple-RBI contests in 2016.
 
The first run of the game was scored off of Crane's RBI-single in the first frame to give McNeese a 1-0 lead over the Cougars. Following the win, the Pokes are now 15-3 when scoring in the first inning and 19-8 when scoring the first run of the ballgame.
 
The Cowboys extended their lead to four runs in the bottom of the second inning beginning with Fox's two-RBI single through the right side while Guilbeau plated a run with one out in the inning to make it a 4-0 score.
 
McNeese exploded for five hits and six runs in the fifth frame which was highlighted by senior catcher Toole's two-RBI single with two outs to up the lead to six run over WSU. Crane was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to score the next run before a Cougar error in the outfield allowed the Pokes to score three more runs and take a 10-0 lead over the home team.
 
WSU starter Ryan Ward (1-2) was charged with the loss after giving up four earned runs on four hits in 2.0 frames.
 
The Pokes was in the progress of posting a shutout until the Cougars scored twice in the eighth frame. However, McNeese has now held its opponents to two or less runs 16 times during the season.
 
The two squads will meet again Friday when they face off in a doubleheader. The twinbill is slated to begin at 4 p.m. (CT) with the second contest to follow. Each game is scheduled for seven innings.
 
McNeese 10, Washington State 2 (May 19, 2016 at Pullman, Wash.)
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McNeese............. 130 060 000  - 10 12  1      (27-22)
Washington State.... 000 000 020  -  2  6  1      (17-31)
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Pitchers: McNeese - Fontenot, Kaleb; Anderson, Aidan(8); Rider, Zach(9) and Toole, Cameron;
Hinkley, Todd. Washington State - Ward, R; Widell, R(3); McAlister, C(5) and Van Horn, S.
Win-Fontenot, Kaleb(5-5)  Loss-Ward, R(1-2)  T-2:32  A-331
Weather: Cloudy, 60 degrees, wind to RF