McNeese shuts down Mississippi Valley State for second shutout

LAKE CHARLES, La. – McNeese Baseball (12-10, 0-0 SLC) earned its second shutout of the season, led by Ty Abraham (redshirt senior) on the mound with seven strikeouts, blanking Mississippi Valley State (8-13, 0-4 SWAC) 6-0 at Joe Miller Ballpark Tuesday evening.

“Ty was really good and kind of battling back from an injury,” said head coach Justin Hill. “We were able to see a couple guys that I think will be able to help us from a conference standpoint.”

Abraham threw a season-high seven strikeouts against the Delta Devils, besting his six K performance against Louisiana Christian.

McNeese set the tone early in the game by blanking the Delta Devils in the first before plating four runs in the bottom for the early advantage. The feat tied the most runs the Cowboys have scored in the first inning since doing so against Prairie View A&M.

Following a single and a walk, senior Elliot Hebert drove in redshirt senior Chase Keeton and fellow senior Cooper Hext on a double up the middle for the Pokes. Conner Westernburg, a junior, tripled in the next at-bat as Hebert crossed home, making it 3-0. He scored next for the four-run lead on a sacrifice fly by junior Simon Larranaga.

Westenburg scored the fifth run of the game on a groundout RBI by senior Braden Duhon. Redshirt freshman Easton Dowell scored the sixth and final run of the game on Hext’s fourth hit of the night.

Hext hit 4-for-5 in the performance with a run scored and a lone RBI of the team’s six. Over his prior two games, he has now hit 7-for-9 against Northwestern and the Delta Devils with two runs scored. He hit a single, double, and triple, falling just a home run short of the cycle.

McNeese begins conference play Thursday through Saturday against Northwestern State in a shortened week for the Southland.

Pitching Appearances
Caleb Strmiska: 0.2 IP, 1 K, 0 H, 2 BB, 0 ER
Ty Abraham: 3.1 IP, 7 K’s, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, Win
Marcus Mott: 2.0 IP, 2 K’s, 1 H, 3 BB, 0 ER
Max Swenson: 1.2 IP, 1 K, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER
Evan Maldonado: 0.2 IP, 2 K, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER
Brian Shadrick: 0.2 IP, 1 K, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER

McNeese Notes
Marks the 19th game of the season with at least six hits.
Cooper Hext had his seventh multi-hit game of the season.
Braden Duhon and Conner Westenburg each had their eighth multi-hit game of 2024.
Abraham set a season-high seven strikeouts.
The Cowboys had five unique batters collect a hit with Hebert and Dowell each earning a lone hit.
McNeese outhit MVSU 10-6.