LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese Cowboys return home this weekend to host the Creighton Blue Jays and Texas State Bobcats in the Lake Area Classic. The Cowboys are coming off an unbelievable 13-5 win against the Houston Cougars in 14 innings.
 
The Cowboys were down most of the game and were losing 3-1 headed into the 9^th, before tying it up with a two-RBI single from true freshman left fielder Payton Harden to force extra innings.
 
Fast forward to the 14^th inning, the Cowboys explode for 10 runs in the top of the inning and give up two in the bottom to grab the programs first win in Houston since 2011.
 
With the win, the Cowboys head into the weekend with a 3-1 record and have outscored their opponents 43 to 18.

Junior right handed pitcher Rhett Deaton will be on the bump for Friday's game against Texas State for the Cowboys. His last start came on opening day back on Feb. 15 against UTSA where he put together a solid outing, going five full innings with no runs allowed and and a total of two hits allowed. He will look to build off that success on Friday.
 
UP TO THE PLATE
Texas State (2-1) vs. McNeese (3-1)
Feb. 22 & 24 | Joe Miller Ballpark
Live Stats | Live Audio
All-Time Series: Texas State leads, 42-34
 
Creighton (3-0) vs. McNeese (3-1)
Feb. 23 & 24 | Joe Miller Ballpark
Live Stats | Live Audio
All-Time Series: McNeese leads, 5-0
 
 
QUICK HITS
• McNeese enters the weekend tournament matchups with a 3-1 record. The Cowboys bested Houston, 13-5, with a monster 10 run inning in the top of the 14th on Wednesday night.  
• Junior second baseman Nate Fisbeck tied a McNeese single game record after recording five total hits in seven at bats on Wednesday. He also leads the Cowboy with a .444 batting average after he went 8-for-18 in the first four games of the year.
• Junior outfielder Clayton Rasbeary leads the Cowboys in RBI's with 9, home runs with 3, and slugging percentage with a .842 percentage.
• On the mound, senior right-handed pitcher Aidan Anderson picked up his first win of the season on Wednesday after coming in to the game in the eighth and pitched 5.2 scoreless innings.
• McNeese is batting .279 as a team and has a 3.38 ERA, compared to opponents' .224 average and 7.68 ERA.
 
ON THE OPPONENTS
• The Blue Jays enter the tournament with a 3-0 record. Creighton won 10-8, 13-8, and 12-10 at Arkansas-Little Rock sweeping them in their opening series in Little Rock to open the season.
• The Bobcats enter the tournament with a 2-1 record. Texas State won two of three games in the Texas State Tournament they hosted opening weekend. They picked up wins against Utah (8-3) and Missouri State (10-0).
•The only game they lost came to the hands of Nevada to the score 0-4.
 
• In 2018, Creighton finished 34-16 overall with an 8-9 mark in Big East play and Texas State finished 30-28-1 overall with a 16-14 mark in Sun Belt play.
 
ON DECK
Following the Lake Area Classic, the Cowboys will host Alcorn State in a midweek game Tuesday at Joe Miller Ballpark and then host Nicholls and Holy Cross in the Mardi Gras Classic on March 1-4.
 
STAY CONNECTED
Follow McNeese Baseball on Twitter at @McNeeseBaseball, and "Like" McNeese Baseball on Facebook.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:
 
Friday:             Creighton vs. Texas State @ 2 p.m.
                        Texas State vs McNeese @ 6 p.m.
Saturday:         Texas State vs Creighton @ 1 p.m.
                        Creighton vs. McNeese @ 4 p.m.
Sunday:           Creighton vs. McNeese @ 11 a.m.
                        Texas State vs McNeese @ 2 p.m.