Box Score LAKE CHARLES – Friday night is typically an advantage for starting pitching as that's traditionally the spot where the staff aces take the mound.

It was no different on a clear, cool night between McNeese and UTSA in the first game of a three-game baseball series at Joe Miller Ballpark where the Roadrunners blanked the Cowboys 1-0 and snapping McNeese's two-game winning streak. 

The series will continue on Saturday with a 3 p.m. first pitch as Bryan King will take the mound for the Cowboys (2-7) while UTSA (3-5) is expected to throw Steven Dressler. 

McNeese's Aidan Anderson pitched perhaps the best game of his career after he allowed one run on just three hits and tied a career-high eight strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work.  

"Percentages tell you you go out and throw like that, you typically come out on the good end of things," said head coach Justin Hill. "I was really proud of him for the way he pitched. He was able to go through the lineup three times. You could tell that was the mission he had."

For UTSA, starting pitcher Karan Patel threw six shutout innings while allowing just three hits and only one McNeese runner to make it to second base to pick up his first win of the season in going to 1-0 on the season. Following him was Derek Craft who faced the minimum batters in the final three innings he pitched, striking out four of the nine batters faced.

McNeese was held to a season-low three hits in the game, all singles. 

"I thik all the credit in the world goes to their starter Patel," said Hill. "He didn't throw a lot of balls tonight, and the ones that he did throw were really, really quality pitches. They could've went either way from a strike stand point. 

"He was really good. We just couldn't put the pressure swing on him."

UTSA got a run in the third after third baseman Aldo Buendia hit a lead-off double then later scored on an RBI groundout by second baseman Bryan Arias to make it 1-0.

McNeese had a chance in the fourth inning to get on the board after Joe Provenzano reached on a one-out walk then Brett Whelton hit a two-out single to left field to put runners at first and second. But Whelton would be picked off first base by UTSA catcher Tony Beam to end the threat, the first of two pick-offs first base by the visiting catcher.

"We had limited opportunities tonight," said Hill, "and when we did have opportunities, they out-executed us. They had the pitch out pick and the back pick. We didn't have a lot of opportunities. They executed at a little higher level than we did."

Meanwhile, Anderson was cruising, retiring nine straight from the third to the sixth inning before giving up a walk to DH Ryan Stacey with one out in the sixth. He then got the next two batters out and retired the side in order in the seventh inning.

"Everything was working well for him tonight," said catcher Brett Whelton who had two of the Cowboys' three hits while throwing out a runner at second on a steal attempt. "He had his curveball, change up and fastball all on point."

The Roadrunners loaded the bases in the ninth but Austin Briggs, the fourth pitcher for the Cowboys on the night, got Buendia to ground out to Bouque at shortstop to end the threat as McNeese went down in order in the bottom of the inning to end the game.