LAKE CHARLES – McNeese sophomore
Nate Fisbeck delivered once again as he lifted his third home run of the weekend in the fourth inning to give the McNeese baseball squad the lead it needed to stay ahead and take down Missouri State, 4-3, for the Lake Area Classic tournament title and the weekend sweep.
Fisbeck finished out the weekend with some of the most impressive numbers across the country with five hits, including a triple and three home runs, as well as 11 total RBIs. The sophomore native of The Woodlands, Texas is the first Poke to hit a home run in three consecutive games since Lucas Quary in 2015.
McNeese started the season off with a 3-0 record for the third time under head coach
Justin Hill. The Cowboys have now won nine of the 15 Lake Area Classic tournaments since its inception in 1992. Missouri State finished as the runner-up with a 2-1 mark on the weekend.
The Pokes found themselves in a two-run deficit headed into the bottom of the third but a pair of Bears' hiccups allowed the Cowboys to scrape across two runs and tie the ballgame up 3-3.
On the first pitch of the first-at bat in the fourth frame, Fisbeck cranked out a dinger over the left field wall to give McNeese the go-ahead lead.
Starting pitcher
Austin Sanders (1-0), who tossed 5.1 innings for McNeese, kept the Bears in check for most of his outing and picked up the win as he handed the ball over the Cowboy bullpen.
From there, freshman
Tyler Wesley worked the next three innings and allowed only one hit while having struck out four batters.
Ricky Ramirez and
Collin Kober climbed the hill to record the last two outs to help preserve the victory. Kober, the McNeese all-time saves leader, was credited with his first save of the season.
In total, the McNeese bullpen tossed 14.1 innings of relief work over the weekend and allowed only four runs and eight hits.
Ramirez was also effective at the plate with two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Sophomore catcher
Dustin Duhon was the only other Pokes to record two or more hits in the contest.
McNeese returns to action on Tuesday as the Cowboys make the drive up to Monroe for a mid-week contest with ULM. First pitch is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start. From there, the Pokes will fly out for a four-game weekend series at Arizona.
McNeese 4, Missouri State 3 (Feb 19, 2017 at Lake Charles, La.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Missouri State...... 003 000 000 - 3 6 1 (2-1)
McNeese............. 102 100 00X - 4 7 2 (3-0)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Missouri State - Witherspoon,Nate; Fromson,Jake(5) and Geha,Logan. McNeese -
Sanders, Austin; Wesley, Tyler(6); Ramirez, Ricky(9); Kober, Collin(9) and Duhon, Dustin.
Win-Sanders, Austin(1-0) Save-Kober, Collin(1) Loss-Witherspoon,Nate(0-1) T-2:17 A-972
HR MSU - Eierman,Jeremy (2).
HR MCN - Fisbeck, Nate (3).
Weather: 76; Partly Sunny; Wind: SE 14
