McNeese, Northwestern State split Friday doubleheader

NATCHITOCHES – McNeese starting pitcher Will Dion got the early offense needed in Friday’s first game of a double-header against Northwestern State when the Cowboys scored five runs in the first three innings while Dion cruised in six innings of work in a 7-1 win in a 7-inning Southland Conference game.

NSU ruined a masterful outing by Cowboy game two starter Bryson Hudgens who held the Demons to just two hits heading into the eighth inning, leading 3-1, when the Demons scored three, two-out runs to lift them to a 4-3 win and a split on the day.

In a schedule change, McNeese (22-24, 15-14 SLC) and Northwestern State (23-21, 17-13) will wrap up the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The doubleheader, which will consist of two nine-inning games, was decided upon because of the potential of rain entering the area on Sunday.

GAME 1 RECAP – McNeese 7, Northwestern State 1 (7-innings)

McNeese got the early offense that’s been lacking lately, scoring five of its seven runs in the first three innings while starting pitcher Will Dion cruised through six innings of four-hit ball, allowing one unearned run and striking out 12 to run his record to 6-4 on the season.

Clayton Rasbeary had a 3 for 4 game with a RBI and run scored while Jake Dickerson (2 for 3) and Julian Gonzales (2 for 3) each recorded multiple hits.

Relief pitcher Cameron Lejeune appeared in the third straight game, tossing the seventh inning and allowing one hit and no runs.

The Cowboys got things going in the first inning when Payton Harden led off with a walk followed by a Rasbeary single. Tré Obregon loaded the bases on a one-out walk and Harden scored on a passed ball to put McNeese up 1-0. Obregon made it a 2-0 game when Dickerson knocked him in on a sacrifice fly.

Brett Whelton, who returned to action after missing the last couple of weeks with an injury, led off the second inning with a solo home run, his first of the season, to put the Cowboys up 3-0. Four batters later, Rasbeary singled in Gonzales who followed Whelton with a single, giving McNeese a 4-0 lead.

In the third, Dickerson led off with a triple to right field then scored to make it 5-0 when next batter up Peyton Johnson sac flied out to left field.

The Demons added a run in the bottom of the third and threatened when loading the bases with one out. Dion got the final two outs on a strike out and a fly out to end the possible rally.]]

Gonzales punched his second hit of the game in the fifth inning to score Dickerson, making it 6-1, then in the seventh, Obregon belted his first homer of the season with a lead-off shot over the left field wall.

GAME 2 RECAP – Northwestern State 4, McNeese 3

The nightcap was a pitcher’s duel between McNeese’s Hudgens and NSU’s Cal Carver through seven innings as Hudgens held the Demons to two hits and one run and Carver allowing three runs and four hits to the Cowboys during that stretch.

But in the eighth, NSU scored three, two-out runs when trailing 3-1 and lifting it to a 4-3 win to get the split on the day. The game-winning hit came when second baseman Daunte Stuart hit a bases clearing double down the right field line off McNeese closer Cameron Foster, the first batter he faced.

Hudgens had his longest outing of the season, throwing 7.2 innings, giving up three hits and striking out seven. All four runs were charged against him however as he fell to 0-2 on the year.

Trailing 1-0 heading into the fourth inning, McNeese’s Harden started things off with an infield single then moved to second on a wild pitch. Nate Fisbeck walked and Rasbeary singled to right field to load the bases with no outs.

McNeese tied the game at 1-1 when Obregon walked to bring in Harden. Nate Collins gave the Cowboys a 2-1 lead with a one-out sacrifice fly that scored Rasbeary.

The Cowboys threatened to widen the gap in the fifth. Reid Bourque started off the inning with a single to right field, advanced to second on a sac bunt by Schuyler Thibodaux, then stole third. He scored on a Fisbeck infield single to make it 3-1 before the inning ended.