LAKE CHARLES, La. – McNeese Baseball split the Senior Day Saturday doubleheader with HCU after taking the first game 13-6 and falling in the latter 9-7 at Joe Miller Ballpark. The series win is the third consecutive in Southland Conference play for the Pokes.
 
McNeese moves to 27-23 on the season with a 10-11 Southland Conference record as HCU shifts to 16-30, 7-14 on the season.
 
Heading into the series, the Pokes claimed a 2-1 series victory over Southeastern, proceeding to sweep A&M-Corpus Christi before ultimately defeating the Huskies 2-1.
 
Prior to both games, 18 seniors were recognized in their final home series at The Jeaux. Thirteen of those being honored made an appearance throughout the three-game series.

Cooper Hext, a senior making three starts over the weekend, earned his seventh triple of the season to continue moving his way up the McNeese record books and national rankings. Hext moved up to hold the second-most triples in a career in McNeese history at 14, passing power hitter Payton Harden.
 
The Cowboys and Bobcats of Texas State will play Tuesday night in the final home game of the season at The Jeaux starting at 6 p.m.
 
Game 1
McNeese kicked off an offensively powered matchup with a four-run inning in the bottom of the first to take an early lead. They tacked on another four runs for an 8-1 advantage before plating their final five runs in the next frame.
 
HCU spread their six runs over the course of three innings with action in the third, fifth, and ninth innings.
 
Senior Elliot Hebert and Braley Hollins, a redshirt sophomore, each collected three hits in five plate appearances to lead the blue and gold. Four other Pokes earned a multi-hit game with two hits apiece.
 
After outhitting the Huskies 16-13, it marked the 22^nd game of the season the Pokes have earned double digit hits in a game.
 
Pitching Appearances
Daelan Caraway: 2.0 IP, 3 K's, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 ER
Alexis Gravel: 2.1 IP, 4 K's, 7 H, 2 BB, 4 ER
Brock Barthelemy: 3.2 IP, 2 K's, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, Win
JT Moeller: 1.0 IP, 3 K's, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER
 
McNeese Notes
• Elliot Hebert extended his team-leading hitting streak to 11 games.
• Braley Hollins and Simon Larranaga each own seven-game hitting streaks.
• 22^nd game with 10+ hits.
• 41^st game with 6+ hits this season.
• Multi-Hit Games: Cooper Hext (20^th), Chase Keeton (10^th), Simon Larranaga (10^th), Peyton LeJeune (9^th), Elliot Hebert (9^th), Braley Hollins (6^th)


Game 2
The offensive battle continued into the second game of the evening with the Huskies edging out the Pokes 9-7.
 
McNeese had eight hits in the performance, all coming from different batters. Senior Elliot Hebert scored two of the runs to lead the blue and gold in the game with five others making their way across home plate.
 
Redshirt senior Ty Abraham threw four innings on the mound, striking out a season-high seven batters in the outing. The team struck out a total of 14.
 
The Cowboys spread their runs throughout the ballgame, scoring two in both the third and fourth frames with one run a piece in the fifth, seventh, and eighth. The squad has scored at least six runs in nine consecutive games.
 
Pitching Appearances
Caleb Strmiska: 3.0 IP, 3 K's, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 ER
Ty Abraham: 4.0 IP, 7 K's, 6 H, 0 BB, 4 ER
Cameron LeJeune: 2.0 IP, 4 K's, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 ER
 
McNeese Notes
• Cooper Hext earned his seventh triple of the season, moving to second all-time in program history after tying yesterday.
• Braley Hollins extended his hitting streak to eight games.
• 42^nd game of 2024 to collect 6+ hits.
• Ty Abraham tied a season-high seven strikeouts.