LAKE CHARLES, La. – Waiting over two years since the last occurrence against the same foe, McNeese Baseball had a walk-off grand slam come off the bat of Cooper Hext to take its first conference series of the season with a 9-5 victory over Southeastern at Joe Miller Ballpark Sunday afternoon. The Cowboys rise to 21-21, 5-10 SLC on the campaign while the Lions drop to 22-21, 4-11 SLC.
 
"The second [home run] felt great inside," said Hext, a senior. "Seeing all my teammates at home plate cheering me on just made my day."
 
McNeese headed into the bottom of the ninth after Southeastern forced a 5-5 tie in the top of the inning before Hext stepped to the plate with bases loaded and just one out. The last walk-off grand slam for the Pokes came during the 2022 season when Kade Morris did the same against Southeastern.

"We made them earn everything we got," said head coach Justin Hill. "A lot of good things went our way."
 
Southeastern took an early 3-0 lead through the first four innings before the Pokes tied it up with a three-run homer, Hext's first of the afternoon that traveled 435 feet out of the park. 
 
The Cowboys took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh before the Lions tied it up. McNeese regained the lead when senior Elliot Hebert hit a solo home run in the eighth.
 
Both Hext's hits came in the shape of home runs to drive in a total of seven RBIs, tied for the most by a Poke during the 2024 season. The first was by Peyton LeJeune, a senior, against Prairie View. Hebert helped the team to three homers in the game with a shot of his own.
 
McNeese will take a couple days of rest before traveling to Houston on May 1 for the Pokes' last away midweek game of the season.
 
Pitching Appearances
Caleb Strmiska: 3.1 IP, 2 K's, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 ER
Ty Abraham: 3.2 IP, 4 K's, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 ER
Cameron LeJeune: 2.0 IP, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 ER, Win
 
McNeese Notes
• Cooper Hext recorded a season-high seven RBIs.
• Hext's 7 RBI game is the second 7 RBI performance of the season. First came for Peyton LeJeune against Prairie View.
• First walk-off grand slam since April 22, 2022 versus Southeastern.
• Multi-hit game: Cooper Hext (17^th), Elliot Hebert (6^th), Chase Keeton (9^th)
• Hitting Streaks: Elliot Hebert (8 games), Grant Mangrum (5 games), Conner Westenburg (4 games)
• Second weekend start for Caleb Strmiska.
• 34^th game of 2024 with 6+ hits.