McNeese misses out on sweep at UTSA

SAN ANTONIO, TX- The McNeese Cowboys baseball team dropped the last game of the series against the University of Texas at San Antonio 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Roadrunner Field, but won the weekend series two games to one.

“I thought we came out ready to play today,” said head coach Justin Hill. “We just didn’t play well enough today to get the win.

“We had two opportunities to get the bunt down but weren’t able to move the runners on either one of those attempts. We gave them too many free passes on the mound giving them a total of 8 combined pass balls and hit-by-pitches compared to our three, but credit (Palmer) Wenzel and (Cameron) Carver they pitched great today and got their team the win.”

The Cowboys started the game off well in the first inning, having freshman outfielder Payton Harden reach base on a fielding error and then after taking third on a Shane Selman double to right field scored on a groundout by junior transfer Clayton Rasbeary to the right side of the infield.

UTSA though would quickly respond in the bottom half of the inning by scoring two runs of their own to take a 2-1 lead after the first.

After a quiet second inning by both teams, the Cowboys would tie the game at two runs apiece in the third. Senior second baseman Nate Fisbeck reached base to lead off the inning after being hit-by-pitch.

Two batters later, Fisbeck would advance to second after a wild pitch and later score on a single up the middle by Clayton Rasbeary, giving him his second RBI on the day and his seventh in the series. 

The Cowboy lead would be short lived once again though, as the Roadrunners responded with a run in the bottom of the inning after senior center fielder Jonathan Tapia drew a walk, stole second, then was driven in by an RBI single by third basemen Griffin Paxton.

After the third inning the Cowboy’s offense would be held scoreless for the remainder of the game. Finishing with only two hits from the fourth inning on and going three up three down in the sixth through ninth inning.

The Roadrunners would tack on their last two runs in the seventh inning bring the score to the final 5-2.

The Cowboy pitcher credited with the loss was Junior Jonathan Ellison (0-1) who pitched 0.2 innings.

Offensively for McNeese Shane Selman and Clayton Rasbeary both went two for four at the plate and Rasbeary was credited with two RBI’s for the Cowboys lone two runs.

The Cowboys will return home for a long homestand, playing the next 11 games at home including two tournaments in which the Pokes will be hosting opponents Texas State and Creighton in the Lake Area Classic; Holy Cross and Nicholls in the Mardi Gras Classic; and Alcorn State sandwiched in between the two tournaments.

The Cowboys will kick off this homestand with the University of Houston on February 19 for the team’s home opener, first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Joe Miller Ballpark.