HOUSTON – Cooper Hext's two-out, RBI triple in the top of the ninth inning culminated a three-run inning that saw McNeese rally from a 6-4 deficit, then Derrick Cherry, in making just his second appearance out of the bullpen this season, notched his first save of the year as the Cowboys defeated Rice 7-6 on Wednesday night.
 
The win was the first for the Cowboys over the Owls since 1999 and snapped a six-game losing streak. Overall, it was the fourth straight win for McNeese (22-11) while the Owls (16-18) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.
 
Also with the win, head coach Justin Hill recorded his 288^th career victory, moving him into sole possession as the 10^th-winningest coach in Southland Conference history.
 
Pitcher Cade Hart, the fourth of five Cowboys to see the mound, earned his first decision on the season after he threw a scoreless seventh and eighth innings while allowing only one hit and struck out three batters.
 
Starter Kainin Morrow didn't allow a hit until the third inning and lasted four frames giving up one unearned run and three hits with a strikeout and three walks.
 
The Cowboys collected nine hits in the game as Tré Obregon III and Andruw Gonzales each recorded two.
 
McNeese led 3-0 after two innings and 3-1 through four-and-a-half until the Owls scored three in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth to go up 6-4.
 
But in the ninth, McNeese got the first two batters on base, Braden Duhon and Gonzales, by way of walks. Taylor Darden's flyout to right field advanced Duhon to third then following a Gonzales steal of second, Duhon scored on Payton Harden's dribbler to the right side, which he reached putting the runners on the corners in a 6-5 game.
 
Josh Leslie added to his Southland Conference RBI lead when his grounder to second scored Gonzales to tie the game 6-6 and advanced Harden to second. Hext then followed with he drilled the first pitch to the right-center field wall scoring Harden and putting the Cowboys back on top 7-6.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, the Owls had runners on second and third with two out when Connor Walsh blasted a shot to dead center field but Conner Westenburg, who subbed in for Harden, made the catch backing against the wall to end the game.
 
Rice threw seven pitchers on the night with Garret Zaskoda, the sixth of the seven, taking the loss and falling to 0-1 after he allowed three runs and a hit with two walks.
 
The Cowboys will return to action this weekend when they visit Southeastern Louisiana in a conference showdown beginning Friday night at 6 p.m.