Bourque’s two-run homer secures Hill’s 200th win

LAKE CHARLES – Junior shortstop Reid Bourque’s two-run home run secured Head Coach Justin Hill’s 200th career win as the McNeese skipper Sunday afternoon in their 3-1 win over UL-Monroe at Joe Miller Ballpark.

Cameron Foster got the start on the mound for the Cowboys and threw a gem of an outing, finishing with 5.2 innings pitched, only surrendered one unearned run on three hits, and struck out four batters.

At the plate, Jake Dickerson went 2-for-4 including a solo home run that went off the left field foul pole to tie the game at one in the fourth inning, and Reid Bourque finished the day 1-for-3 with his sole hit being the go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to put the Cowboys ahead for good.

Hunter Reeves earned his second save on the year after throwing the final 1.2 innings. He surrendered only one hit, no runs, and fanned three batters.

The Cowboys will be back on the field come Tuesday when they play host to longtime rival UL-Lafayette in the Jeaux at 6 p.m.

KEY INNINGS
3rd | In the top of the inning, the Warhawks would capitalize on the McNeese mistakes, scoring one run on one hit, a walk, and an error to take the early 1-0 lead.

4th | In the bottom of the inning, Jake Dickerson would lead off with a home run off the left field foul pole to tie the game up at 1-1 after the fourth.

5th | In the bottom of the inning, Julian Gonzales lead off with a single to right field and then would make it all the way home on Reid Bourque’s two-run home run over the right field fence to give the Cowboys the 3-1 lead.

MCNEESE NOTES
Offense:
The Cowboys were led offensively by Reid Bourque and Jake Dickerson, each with a home run in the game.
Four Cowboys would finish the game with multiple hits, including Clayton Rasbeary (2-for-4), Jake Dickerson (2-for-4), Payton Harden (2-for-4), and Julian Gonzales (2-for-3).
Pitching:
Cameron Foster got the start for the Cowboys in Sunday’s game, finishing the game with 5.2 IP, one unearned run on only three hits, three walk, four strikeouts, and earn his first win of the year.
Foster would be relieved by freshman Isaac Duplechain with two outs in the sixth, Duplecahin would finish the inning and finish the game with 2.1 IP, no hits, no runs, and strike out three batters.
Duplechain would be relieved by Hunter Reeves with one out in the eighth and Reeves would go on to throw the remainder of the game, finishing with 1.2 IP, one hit, no runs, three strikeouts, and earned the save.

QUOTES
Cameron Foster on his start
“I was a little nervous, my bullpen session wasn’t the greatest but I was able to throw strikes and use my defenders behind me”
“The game plan for me was pitching for weak contact. The more I pitch to weak contact, the lower my pitch count. The lower my pitch count, the farther I can go in the game and the guys behind me did a great job today to help us get this needed win”

Reid Bourque on his go-ahead homer
“It just felt good to contribute to this win. I wasn’t trying to do too much in the at-bat to be honest, I was just trying to hit something hard. They threw me a fastball up in the zone and I got a good barrel on it and it went out, but all the glory goes to my teammates for how hard they played today and to God for giving me the ability to play the game I love.”

Head Coach Justin Hill
On today’s game
“I think Cameron Foster was the biggest part of the game today, we were able to stretch him into the sixth inning and he might have been able to go a little longer, but we had Isaac Duplechain ready to go.”
“We are 16 games in now and I don’t think we’ve had a real tight game like this yet. I think this was a great game for the guys to experience because once we start conference next week and get deeper in to the season the guys are going to need to know how to handle tight games and we were able to do that today and come out with the win.”
On his 200th win
“It’s cool man, my dad came in this weekend cause you kind of know that that kind of thing is coming. It’s special because it means you’ve had some success, you’ve been somewhere a while, you’ve had the support of a great university, and it means a lot to me.”

ON DECK
The Cowboys will conclude their series with UL-Monroe with game three tomorrow afternoon at the Joe starting at 1 p.m. After the conclusion of their series with ULM, the Cowboys will host UL-Lafayette on Tuesday night.

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