LAKE CHARLES – Northwestern State scores six runs in the first two innings off of seven hits, then kept McNeese from clawing back into the game after stranding five Cowboy runners in scoring position as the Demons captured game two of the Southland Conference baseball series by a 9-4 score on Saturday.
The two teams will play the rubber match at 1 on Sunday as the Cowboys (18-21, 13-7 SLC) will start Tyler Wesley (3-2, 4.54 ERA) on the mound. NSU (21-18, 9-8) is expected to throw Nathan Jones (2-3, 3.25)
All Little League players wearing their team uniform will be admitted free to the game.
After winning 2-1 in 13 innings on Friday night, McNeese struggled to get out of the gate on Saturday when starting pitcher
Bryan King (3-3) was knocked around on eight hits, three of those going for extra bases, and seven runs before being lifted after he gave up a third inning lead-off double to NSU first baseman Peyton Davis.
Cayne Ueckert entered and gave up two hits and hit a batter in the inning as the Demons built a 7-0 lead.
McNeese got on the board in the third when
Jacob Stracner hit a lead-off solo home run to make it 7-1.
Ueckert seemed to find his groove in the fourth as he retired the side the next two innings while the Cowboys started to chip away at the lead.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Shane Selman and
Joe Provenzano started things off with back-to-back singles then a double by
Dustin Duhon followed to score Selman to make it a 7-2 game.
Jake Cochran then hit a run-scoring single into left field to make it 7-3, but with runners on the corners, Stracner hit into an inning ending double play to end the threat.
The Cowboys left runners stranded on second and third in the sixth inning after the Demons added two runs in the top of the frame to go up 9-3. Then another inning ended double play squashed a rally attempt in the seventh.
McNeese was able to get another run across in the eighth inning after Mitchell Rogers got a two-out double then scored on a follow up single by Cochran to make it a 9-4 game.
The Cowboys put 11 hits on the board with Cochran leading the way with a 3-for-4 game. Provenzano and Rogers finished 2-for-4 from the plate.
NSU starting pitcher Jeremy Maddox (4-3) got the win after he threw seven innings and gave up three runs on nine hits
The top of the order for NSU dominated the game.
Lead-off batter Kwan Adkins and No. 2 hitting David Fry combined to go 8-for-9 from the plate with five RBIs and four runs scored as the two collected eight of the team's 15 hits for the game. Adkins finished the day 4-for-5 with two run scored and a RBI while Fry finished 4-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored.
