CORPUS CHRISITI – McNeese got the early inning offense that has eluded it recently as the Cowboys scored all 11 of their runs in the first three innings, including an eight-run third to help them beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11-6 here Sunday afternoon and winning the final game of the weekend series.
 
Second baseman Joe Provenzano moved closer to school history with his 3-for-5 performance at the plate that included a single, double and a home run while knocking in five runs.
 
His three hits increased his career total to 236, 11 base knocks shy of the school record of 247.
 
McNeese improved to 22-26 on the season and 15-12 in conference play. Corpus Christi fell to 24-26 and 8-16 in the conference.
 
Peyton McLemore (2-1) picked up the win out of the bullpen after he relieved starter Cayne Ueckert with one out on the fifth inning. McLemore threw 2 1/3 innings and allowed one run on four hits with four strike outs.
 
He ran in to trouble in the seventh inning when the Islanders loaded the bases with two outs and trailing 11-6. Aidan Anderson entered a day after suffering his first loss of the season out of the bullpen, and go the Cowboys out of the inning with a fly out to center field.
 
Anderson notched his sixth save on the year after throwing the final 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball and allowed just one hit while striking out one.
 
McNeese wasted little time in jumping on the Islanders early when Provenzano belted a one-out, two-run home run in the top of the first and Shane Selman followed with a solo shot to make it a quick 3-0 lead.
 
Corpus came back in the bottom of the first inning to cut the lead to 3-2 on a two-run homer by Harrison Dinicola.
 
After a scoreless second inning, the Cowboys opened things up in the third with eight runs on five hits.
 
Provenzano knocked in his third run of the game with an RBI single to make it a 4-2 lead. Dustin Duhon put the Cowboys up 5-2 after he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Reid Bourque.
 
Following an Islander pitching change, Jake Cochran reached on a fielding error but did get credit for an RBI as the Cowboys' lead built to 6-2.
 
After the first out of the inning, Brett Whelton hit an RBI single and Jacob Stracner doubled to left field to score two runs as the lead grew to 9-2.
 
Provenzano got his second hit of the inning and second and third RBIs in the frame with a double to left field to put the Cowboys up 11-2.
 
Corpus added single runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings but couldn't manage any crooked numbers on the board.
 
Joining Provenzano in the multi-hit department was Bourque who finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
Islander starting pitcher Tate Gillespie took the loss after he gave up eight runs on five hits in two innings of action.
 
McNeese will close out its five-game streak away from home on Wednesday when it visits LSU at 6:30.
 
The Cowboys will return to Joe Miller Ballpark next weekend when it hosts Prairie View for a weekend series.