LAKE CHARLES – McNeese baseball completed its first series sweep since April 11-13, 2025 against UIW on Saturday, shutting out Northwestern State 9-0 while recording its second shutout victory of the weekend.
With the win, the Cowboys improve to 28-23 overall (16-14 Southland Conference), while Northwestern State falls to 25-24 overall (16-14 SLC). McNeese will now await its match up for the Southland Conference Tournament.
McNeese struck quickly in the opening inning, plating six runs to take control early.
Matt Stancliff started the scoring with a sacrifice bunt that allowed Easton Dowell to score after an error by the pitcher. DJ Pinkerton followed with a grand slam to left field—his third home run of the season—to extend the lead to 5-0. Korey Cooper capped the inning with an RBI single to right field to score Marcus Heusohn.
The Cowboys continued the power surge in the second inning when Isaiah Keller launched a solo home run to left field, his eighth of the season, to make it 7-0.
Danny Barbero added another long ball in the fourth inning, sending his 11th home run of the year over the left-center field wall to extend the lead to 8-0.
Connor Walker capped the scoring in the seventh inning with McNeese's fourth home run of the afternoon, a solo shot to left field that pushed the final margin to 9-0.
Northwestern State starter Carter White took the loss, falling to 1-5 after allowing six runs on four hits in the first inning.
McNeese starter Garett Blanchard delivered a career performance, tossing a career-high six scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and striking out a career-best seven batters.
