LAKE CHARLES – It was again the long ball that helped the McNeese baseball team to an 8-4 Southland Conference series victory over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon as a solo-shot from
Matt Gallier in the seventh broke a 4-4 tie while a one-run bomb from
Mitchell Rogers early in the game and a three-run homer from
Robbie Podorsky helped provided insurance runs to help the Pokes remain perfect at The Jeaux.
McNeese improved to 14-5 overall with the victory and 5-0 in league play. For the first time in program history, the Cowboys are out to a 5-0 start in conference action while pushing its home winning streak to 12 consecutive games dating back to last year. The loss dropped SFA to 8-12 and 0-2 in the SLC standings.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Pokes used back-to-back doubles as well as a single to drive in a pair of runs and take a one run lead over the Lumberjacks.
McNeese added to its lead two frames later as Rogers smashed a two-out home run over the left field wall to make it a 4-2 ballgame. The tater was Rogers' fourth of the season and first since the LSU game back on March 8.
The Jacks knotted the score up at 4-4 with two runs in the top of the next inning. However, the lead did not last long as Gallier belted his sixth dinger of the season deep over right field to give McNeese the go-ahead run.
With two outs facing him in the eighth inning,
Robbie Podorsky padded the McNeese lead as he lifted his first career home run and drove in three runs to score. The knock was the first of Podorsky's career at any level of baseball.
The Cowboys slung the ball all over The Jeaux as nine of their 14 hits were extra base efforts with all three home runs coming with two outs in the inning.
It was the fifth time this season that McNeese hit two or more moonshots in a game and own a 4-1 record when doing so.
Both Gallier and Rogers led the hitting effort with three runs apiece while Podorsky's three RBIs led the squad on the day. Rogers finished the day with two runs driven in while Gallier,
Joe Provenzano and
Brett Whelton each drive in one.
Aidan Anderson (2-1) picked up the victory following 1.1 frames of relief work where he allowed no runs and no hits. Starting pitcher
Rhett Deaton tossed 6.2 innings and allowed two earned runs and five hits while striking out five batters.
The series finale is set for Sunday with a 1 p.m. start at The Jeaux. The game will be carried live on KEZM 1310 in Sulphur and on kezmonline.com. Fans can also follow the action via Live Stats and Video on McNeeseSports.com and on Twitter @McNeeseBaseball.
McNeese 8, Stephen F. Austin 4 (Mar 18, 2017 at Lake Charles, La.)
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Stephen F. Austin... 020 000 200 - 4 5 0 (8-12, 0-2 SLC)
McNeese............. 001 201 13X - 8 14 2 (14-5, 5-0 SLC)
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Pitchers: Stephen F. Austin - Ledet, Patrick; Campbell, Seth(7); Hagy, Austin(8);
Hassold, Chris(8) and Kahawaii, Clark. McNeese - Deaton, Rhett; Anderson, Aidan(7);
Kober, Collin(9) and Whelton, Brett; Duhon, Dustin.
Win-Anderson, Aidan(2-1) Loss-Campbell, Seth(0-1) T-2:18 A-848
HR SFA - Evans, Josh (2).
HR MCN - Podorsky, Robbie (1); Gallier, Matt (6); Rogers, Mitchell (4).
Weather: 78; Partly Sunny; Wind: SW7
