HAMMOND – McNeese baseball knocked off Southland Conference regular season champion Southeastern 15-9 Friday night to advance in the winner's bracket of the Southland Conference Tournament.
The Cowboys will face the winner of Southeastern and Houston Christian on Saturday at 6 p.m. and the game will stream live on ESPN+.
McNeese was led offensively by Matt Stancliff, who finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs, two runs scored and a double. Kaden Schuck also turned in a strong performance, going 3-for-4 with an RBI, three runs scored and a walk.
With the win, McNeese improves to 30-23 overall, while Southeastern falls to 32-20.
"Offensively we were able to get going early and were able to sustain it the entire time," said head coach Justin Hill.
After two scoreless innings, the Cowboys broke through in the third with four runs to take control early.
Stancliff opened the scoring with an RBI single up the middle before Danny Barbero reached on an error to score another run. Hayden Stringfellow followed with an RBI double to deep center field and Isaiah Keller capped the inning with an RBI single to extend the lead to 4-0.
Southeastern answered in the fourth inning when Connor Cuff connected on a three-run home run to trim the deficit to one.
"Great start by Cooper Golden in a hostile environment playing the host in a 1-0 game," Hill added.
Golden tossed four innings while allowing three runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
McNeese responded with its biggest inning of the night in the fifth, plating seven runs to extend the lead to 11-3.
Keller highlighted the inning with a two-RBI double while DJ Pinkerton added a sacrifice fly. Schuck and Easton Dowell each delivered RBI singles before Stancliff capped the frame with a two-run double to left center.
The Lions cut into the deficit in the sixth with three runs, but the Cowboys answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning.
Pinkerton launched a two-run home run over the left field wall before Korey Cooper added an RBI single and Dowell drove in another run on a fielder's choice to push the lead to 15-6.
Southeastern added two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, but McNeese closed out the victory behind strong bullpen work.
Southeastern starter Nik Toups took the loss, falling to 5-2 on the season after allowing five earned runs on seven hits in four innings.
McNeese reliever Paul Coppinger earned the win to improve to 3-3 on the year, while Jake Blackwell recorded his second save of the season after allowing one run on two hits while striking out five over the final three innings.
