LAKE CHARLES- McNeese softball was victorious 8-5 over Southern Mississippi at Joe Miller Field at Cowgirl Diamond Wednesday night in its final game before opening conference play this weekend.
A six-run second inning gave McNeese a seven-run advantage over the Golden Eagles. A lull in Cowgirl (13-14) scoring followed by two consecutive innings of multiple Golden Eagle (18-12) runs raised the score to 7-5 in the top of the fifth inning to threaten McNeese's lead. The Cowgirls responded with an insurance run in the sixth inning along with aggressive base running and defense that resulted in an 8-5 victory.
"Tonight, was a good outing with 11 hits and good defense. The biggest thing is I want to see us play clean softball," said head coach James Landreneau. "We had a pretty good command of the game but gave up some runs which we want to minimize as much as possible. We showed some composure towards the end of the game to answer with the final run. Mentally we are in a good spot going into conference play."
Key Moments:
First Inning
Second Inning
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A two out two RBI double by Alayis Seneca scored Chole Gomez and Kendall Talley
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A double steal and a pass ball placed runners on second and third and a second two RBI double by Jil Poullard created a 5-0 lead
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Moreno continued the scoring with an RBI single
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An RBI single by Kennedy Reynolds scored Moreno giving the Cowgirls a 7-0 by the end of the inning
Fourth Inning
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A Southern Miss RBI single put Eagles first run on the board
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The Golden Eagles added another run by scoring on a pass ball (McN 7, S. Miss 2)
Fifth Inning
Sixth Inning
Game Notes:
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Starting pitcher Shaelyn Sanders (5-0) ended the game with three strikeouts, giving up four hits and in 5.2 shutout innings
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Poullard, Seneca, and Moreno all led the Cowgirls with one run, two hits, and two RBIs each
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Willingham and Talley had two runs apiece
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McNeese outhit S. Miss 11-10
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The Cowgirls left four runners on base while the Golden Eagles left seven
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McNeese stole five bases
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Southern Miss drew three walks while McNeese drew two
Next Game:
McNeese will open conference play with a three-game series at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday, March 25 with a1 p.m. doubleheader and a single game at 12 on Saturday, March 26.