NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The McNeese baseball team looked as if it was about to shake the monkey off its back after staking itself a comfortable lead in Sunday's Southland Conference series finale before watching the game slip away as Stephen F. Austin rallied for 11 straight runs to complete the sweep against the Cowboys, 12-6, at Jaycees Field in Nacogdoches.
Heading into the sixth frame, McNeese (23-21, 13-14 SLC) held a 6-1 lead over the Lumberjacks (26-22, 14-13 SLC). It was just the second lead of the series for the Cowboys, who have now lost seven games in a row. The losing streak is the longest since the 2013 season.
SFA plated a run in the sixth to cut into the lead, but there was hardly any concern as the Pokes still held on to a four run lead behind the arm of starter
Ethan Stremmel who only gave up two runs through 5.1 innings of work.
However, Stephen F. Austin was not about to go down without a fight as it used three runs on five hits and a Cowboy error in the bottom of the seventh inning to climb to within one run of McNeese.
It was Zac Michener's one-out, three-RBI home run in the next frame that broke the Pokes' back as the SFA batter's bomb added to the Jacks barrage of seven runs and five hits as well as another McNeese error to surpass the Cowboys and take a 12-6 lead that would eventually hold on for the series win.
McNeese had its chances to get out of the eighth inning but was unable to cope with mistakes that would end up loading the bases with no outs. With a runner on second and no outs, relief pitcher
Collin Kober hit the next batter and committed a fielding error to juice the bags. Then with a full count, the Jacks began the invasion of runs as they drew a walk to tie the ballgame.
Kober (2-3) was charged with the loss after surrendering six runs (five earned) in one inning of work.
Austin Briggs would close the game with 0.2 frames of work and only one run (none earned) given up as he struck out two.
Following an SFA run scored in the first inning, the Cowboys blew open the gate with six runs in the fourth to take the lead. The early surge was highlighted by senior
Connor Crane's three-run missile. The homer was Crane's team-high ninth this season.
Three McNeese batter's recorded multiple hits in the game and were led by Crane's 3-for-5 day as he drove in three runs and scored a run.
Ricky Ramirez turned in another two hit effort while
Nate Fisbeck drove in a run and scored.
The Cowboys stranded 10 runners and hit 10 times during the finale while Stephen F. Austin left 12 on base and led with 15 hits. McNeese committed a total of three errors while the Jacks were victims of one hiccup.
McNeese will be back in action this week as it heads to Waco for a two-game, mid-week series against Baylor on Tuesday and Wednesday before facing Central Arkansas in the conference series finale at Joe Miller Ballpark.
Stephen F. Austin 12, McNeese 6 (May 08, 2016 at Nacogdoches, Texas)
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McNeese............. 000 600 000 - 6 10 3 (23-21, 13-14)
Stephen F. Austin... 100 001 37X - 12 15 1 (26-22, 14-13)
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Pitchers: McNeese - Stremmel, Ethan; Fontenot, Trent(6); Kober, Collin(7); Briggs, Austin(8)
and Toole, Cameron. Stephen F. Austin - Starks, T.; Greene, J.(4); Thomas, R.(8);
Campbell, S.(9) and Boxwell, T.; Kahawaii, C..
Win-Thomas, R.(1-1) Loss-Kober, Collin(2-3) T-3:15 A-241
HR MCN - Crane, Connor (9).
HR SFA - Michener, Z. (5).
Weather: Overcast, breezy, mid 70s
