Gonzales’ two-run triple helps McNeese past Valparaiso, 4-2

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese baseball’s Julian Gonzales secured the Cowboys 4-2 vicory over Valparaiso Friday night after driving in the eventual game winning runs on his two-RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the eighth, Nate Fisbeck and Clayton Rasbeary lead off with back-to-back singles. Then after two Cowboys strikeouts, sophomore outfielder Julian Gonzales hit a triple in to the left center gap to bring both runners home and give the Cowboys the lead.

Then in the ninth, senior relief pitcher Hunter Reeves slammed the door shut, striking out the first two batter and then getting a ground out to end the game and his first save on the season.

Kevin Roliard (1-0) was the pitcher of record after pitching 1.0 IP and picking up one strikeout I nthe eighth.

The Cowboys will be back on the field come tomorrow afternoon when they take on Southern Miss at 4 p.m. in the Jeaux.

KEY INNINGS
1st | In the top of the inning, the Crusaders plated the first run of the game on three walks, an error and no hits.

3rd | In the bottom of the inning, Schulyer Thibodaux reached on a infield single and then made it to third on Payton Harden’s infield chopper. Now with men on the corners and one out, Jake Dickerson hit a single into center field to bring Thivodaux home and tie the game at one. Two batters later, Clayton Rasbeary hit a ground ball up the middle to plate Harden and give the Cowboys the 2-1 lead after three.

6th | In the top of the inning, Valpo would tie the game at 2 after getting a man on base and to second on an error and go him home on a wild pitch.

8th | In the bottom of the inning, Fisbeck and Rasbeary lead off with back-to-back singles. Two batters later, Julian Gonzales hit a triple in to the left center gap to secure the Cowboys lead and bring the socre to its final 4-2.

MCNEESE NOTES
Offense:
The Cowboys were led offensively by Julian Gonzales, going 2-for-4 form the plate including the eventual game winning 2-RBI triple in the eighth inning.

Clayton Rasbeary also went 2-for-4 from the plate with two singles to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

Pitching:
Brett Payne got the start for the Cowboys in Friday’s game, finishing with 1.2 innings, allowed only one hit and one run, but allowed five walks in the game.

Jonathan Ellison and Daniel Hecker combined for the next 5.1 innings for a combined three hits and one unearned run.

Kevin Roliard relieved Hecker to begin the eighth and would finish with one inning, face three batters and only throw 8 pitches to pick up his first win of the season.

Hunter Reeves wntered the game in the ninth to close out the game for the Cowboys. Reeves completed his save opportunity for his first of the season and did do picking up two strike outs.

QUOTES

RHP Kevin Roliard

“I felt confident out there tonight, as a team we battled and everyone did their job. There’s no quit in this team, we have each other’s back and we are gonna fight till the last out.”

OF Julian Gonzales

“Coach (Hill) made it clear to us that we had to find a way to win the game, no matter what. I think for me it came down to just execution, I stuck with my approach at the plate and got a good piece of the ball and it found a gap.”

Head Coach Justin Hill

“I don’t think we played really good at all tonight, not up to the standard we expect form ourselves, but we found a way to win the game. We had the right guys up at the right time, Julian got the big swing their in the eighth and found a way to win an ugly game. ”

ON DECK
The Cowboys will continue their play in the Lake Area Classic over the weekend, playing Southern Miss at 4 p.m. on Saturday and a double header starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

STAY CONNECTED
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