MONROE— A fifth inning triple by Crislyne Moreno proved to be the game winning hit in McNeese softball's 2-1 win over Louisiana-Monroe in the rubber game of a three game series Saturday.
 
With the Cowgirls trailing 1-0 after four innings, Brooke Otto led the fifth inning off with an infield single.  Otto moved to second on a sac bunt by Alayis Seneca then Rylee Eyster pinch ran for Otto.  Following a Marina Torres hit by pith, Moreno tripled to right center that scored both Eyster and Torres for the 2-1 lead.
 
The lead would hold up but ULM made things interesting in the seventh inning when the Warhawks had the tying run on third and the game winning run on second with two outs.  McNeese made a pitching change, replacing starter Whitney Tate with freshman Lindsay Davis.  Davis didn't perform like a freshman as she got Madelyn Fletcher to go down swinging to end the game to pick up her second save of the season. Tate improved to 7-1 with the win.
 
With the win, McNeese improves to 15-9 overall while ULM falls to 16-10 on the year.
 
McNeese will return home on Wednesday, March 15 to host Houston in a single game beginning at 6 p.m.    
 
 
Game 1
ULM scored four runs on five hits in the first inning for an early 4-0 lead, chasing Cowgirl starter Ashley Vallejo from the circle after facing five batters. ULM added a single run in the third for a 5-0 lead.
 
McNeese's lone run of the game came off Brooke Otto's second home run this season, a solo home run in the fifth inning.
 
The Warhawks weren't done yet as they added two more runs in the bottom half of the fifth off a Cowgirl error and a single to extend the lead to 8-1.
 
Game 2
After three scoreless innings, ULM took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a double by Madison Blount. McNeese responded with a two out triple by Crislyne Moreno in the fifth inning that scored pinch runner Rylee Eyster and Mariana Torres to put the Cowgirls up 2-1.
 
In the bottom of the seventh inning, ULM had the tying run on third base and winning run on second base with two outs.  McNeese made a pitching change, sending freshman Lindsay Davis into the circle to replace starter Whitney Tate. Davis got Madelyn Fletcher to go down swinging to end the game.
 
NOTES (Game 1)
•-Cowgirl starter Ashley Vallejo was replaced by Shaelyn Sanders with one out in the first inning after allowing four runs on five hits
•- Sanders made her second appearance since last pitching against South Dakota on Feb. 18.
•- Brooke Otto hit her second home run of the season for the only Cowgirl run in first game.
•- McNeese used three pitchers
• The Cowgirls were held to four hits and allowed 10 hits
•- Both teams left five base runners stranded
•- Each team turned one double play
 
NOTES (Game 2)
•-ULM took the early lead again in game two with a run in the fourth inning.
•- After giving up that run in the fourth inning, Cowgirl starter Whitney Tate retired the next nine batters she faced before giving up a single in the seventh.
•- Crislyne Moreno hit what proved to be the game winning triple in the fifth inning that scored two runs
•- Freshman Lindsay Davis entered the game with two outs in the seventh inning and the tying run on third and the go ahead run on second. Davis got the final out of the game with a strikeout to end the game.
•- Whitney Tate improves to 7-1 on the year while Davis picks up her second save of the year.