McNeese blanks No. 12 LSU, 2-0

BATON ROUGE – McNeese baseball’s pitching staff delivered another gem of an outing Tuesday night, pitching a four-hit shutout to defeat the No. 12 ranked LSU Tigers 2-0 in Baton Rouge at Alex Box Stadium.

This was the first time LSU (17-8) has been shut out by a non-conference opponent since the 2016 season when McNeese (14-11) blanked the Tigers 7-0 in Baton Rouge. It’s also the third win over the Tigers in the last four years.

Cowboys’ starting pitcher Brett Payne (1-0) posted a remarkable outing and his best of the season for the Cowboys. Making his second start of the season, the freshman Payne pitched 6.0 innings, gave up no runs, allowed only two hits, and struck out five batters to record his first win of the year.

“When you’re in the zone, there isn’t anything like it,” said Payne. “You can throw anything anywhere and get outs, whether it’s pitching to contact or blowing it by people.”

With his dominate performance on Tuesday night, Payne lowered his ERA for the season from 6.14 to 3.38.

The Cowboys would get out of several huge jams in the game, including the second, fifth, and eighth innings.

Most notably in the eighth inning, Tigerss second baseman Ben Broussard led the inning off with a single and then reached third base on a wild pitch to give LSU a man in scoring position with no outs.

The Cowboys would then walk the next batter to give the Tigers a man on the corners with no outs. The next three batters would be set down in order by way of a lineout to third baseman Carson Maxwell, popout to second baseman Nate Fisbeck, and then a groundout to Fisbeck to end the inning and hold the Tigers scoreless.

“It seems like we have one of these games every year, it’s just hard to explain,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “I knew coming off an emotional week at Georgia and looking forward to a series at Mississippi State, it would take an awful lot of leadership to have the players ready to play, and we just didn’t get them inspired and motivated tonight.

“I thought our pitching hung in there and gave us a chance, but we didn’t get it done offensively. We certainly don’t have time to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves; we just have to turn the page and get ready to go to Starkville.”

McNeese will be on the road for a Southland conference weekend series against the Sam Houston State Bearkats starting on Friday and ending on Sunday. First pitch on Friday will be 6 p.m. LSU faces Mississippi State in a three-game SEC series starting Thursday night in Starkville, Miss.

KEY INNINGS

3rd | In the top of the inning, the Cowboys would plate their first run of the game after Dustin Duhon reached base on a throwing error by the LSU shortstop Josh Smith, then advanced after a single by Nate Fisbeck and a walk by Peyton Harden and Shane Selman. Duhon would then score on a wild pitch by LSU starter Ma’Khail Hilliard to give the Cowboys the 1-0 lead after the third inning.

8th | In the eighth, the Cowboys would plate their second run in the game. Second batter of the inning, Peyton Harden, would reach base on a single through the left side of the infield, steal second base, advance on a ground out by Shane Selman, and then score on a wild pitch by LSU’s Will Ripoll to give the Cowboys a 2-0 lead.

MCNEESE NOTES
Offense:
The Cowboys were led offensively by Peyton Harden going 1-for-3 with one single, one run, and one walk drawn.

Pitching:
Junior right-handed pitcher Brett Payne would get the start in Tuesday night’s game, going 6.0 innings, giving up no runs on two hits, struck out five batters and get the win.

Senior Bryan King would relieve Payne to start the seventh inning, and would go on to pitch 1.0 innings, give up no runs, no hits, and strikeout one.

Peyton McLemore and Will Dion would combine to pitch the eighth inning. Dion would go on to finish the game for the Cowboys, pitching 1.2 innings, give up no runs, no hits, strike out two batters, and pick up his second save of the season.

COWBOY COACH QUOTES

“We knew from a match-up stand point that Brett’s (Payne) got good stuff and he’s talented, I think he just needed to get out of his own way and what better time than to do it tonight, really proud of what he did tonight.”

“They gave us a few opportunities to score and we took advantage of them, they did such a good job tonight especially in a quick turnaround from this past weekend.”

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