***With the halting of all sports during the Coronavirus crisis, McNeese Athletics will dive into the archives and run stories from past accomplishments. Today we take a look at McNeese Baseball winning its first-ever Southland Conference championship in 1988***
 
Story ran in the Lake Charles American Press on Monday, May 9, 1988.
 
 
Sunday was Senior Day and Little League Day at Cowboy Diamond, and roses were also handed out in honor of Mother's Day.
 
The most effective type of promotion came after nine innings of baseball, though, when McNeese's 13-5 win over Stephen F. Austin settled the Cowboys first-ever Southland Conference championship.
 
Mark Bowling set a school record with his ninth win of the season, and Marvin Schuh and Jeff Gremillion smashed home runs as McNeese swept SFA to finish 13-7 in conference.
 
Northeast Louisiana fell 5-0 at Northwestern State and finished 1½ games behind the Cowboys. 
 
"I don't know what to say," McNeese head coach Tony Robichaux blurted out after the game. "We accomplished our goals of winning 30 games and winning conference. We finished the season 30-29 and we're the league champions.
 
"I'm proud of the way our guys didn't quit. If I have to take out a loan, my players are getting rings."
 
Money must also be found to expand the team's travel budget. The Cowboys, by virtue of the SLC title, gain an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I playoffs. Regional play begins May 25-30 at sites yet to be determined.
 
"We've come a long way this year," said Robichaux, in his second year as field manager. "After the 4-13 start we settled down and started learning how to win games." 
 
First baseman Chip Stratton thought the team that won Sunday's game was not the same group that started the year.
 
"Ten games into the season, the chemistry just wasn't there," Stratton said. "It's been a long season and we've made so many big steps along the way. This was as true a team effort as there is."
 
The Cowboys took an 8-0 lead after five innings, but SFA chipped away to cut the deficit to 8-5.
 
Michael Innerarity had a solo home run in the sixth and a two-run shot in the seventh to bring the Lumberjacks back, but Dennis Slack pitched two innings in relief of Bowling and gave up just one hit and no runs.
 
"It's the situation I love to be in," said Slack, the most efficient closer on the McNeese staff." I was praying for a chance to come in and throw in a game like this."
 
Schuh's three-run homer in the eighth padded the lead back out to 11-5, and an RBI triple by Mike Robichaux and a run-scoring single by Roger Champagne closed out the scoring.
 
The SLC title was the first by a McNeese athletic team other than tennis since the 1980 football team grabbed the league championship. The Cowboys' tennis team won the Southland trophy in 1984 and shared another with Northeast last year.
 
"This goes back to Day One back in the fall," said Robichaux. "We worked hard, we knew we had a young ballclub, but we knew if we worked it would pay off.
 
"This team had never had a fall season where they worked like we did this year. I think this kind of success will make them want to come back and do the same thing next year."
 
Stratton drove in McNeese's first run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and Ferral Manuel scored to make it 2-0 in the second when SFA's infield broke down.
 
An RBI single by Robichaux, who went 3-for-4, started a four-run fourth for McNeese. Steve Boulet and Shon Shelton hit back-to-back RBI doubles before Gremillion drilled a two-run homer to straightaway center off Jacks' starter and loser Joe Gunn, 2-4
 
Schuh tripled in the fifth inning and later scored on a single by Boulet. In all, McNeese had 16 hits off three SFA pitchers.
 
The Lumberjacks finished 22-29, 11-10 in conference. Head coach Johnny Crawford was ejected in the eighth inning after the second balk call against his pitching staff.
 
"I think they made a mistake when they came in yesterday," said Robichaux. "The Stephen F. Austin, players started ragging us during infield practice, and I'd never seen that from a college team. It just got us mad.
 
"We got out there and started pounding the ball, getting the two-out rally, fouling off a pitch here and then driving the next one for a home run. I really think they did us a favor."
 
Champagne agreed.
 
"Stephen F. Austin came in here real hot and we scored 22 on them in the first two games," said Champagne. "Then we knock them out of the park today. It was a satisfying way to win the championship."