LAKE CHARLES, La. – HBU stranded nine runners and had two others thrown out at home, leaving the door open for McNeese State to sweep the Southland Conference series with a 4-1 victory in the finale Saturday afternoon at Cowboy Diamond.
Senior leftfielder
Jordan McCoy went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while senior first baseman
Bradley Brown also went 2-for-4 for the Huskies (14-14, 5-7 SLC).
Cameron Toole doubled and had a pair of RBIs, while Jackson Gooch also drove in two for the Cowboys (19-11, 9-3).
McNeese starter Bryce Kingsley (3-2) was the beneficiary of great defense by his teammates, allowing only one run, despite allowing 10 hits. Lucas Quary worked the final three innings for his first save.
Junior righthander
Curtis Jones (2-2) held the Cowboys hitless through five innings, but wound up allowing four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 6.2 innings.
HBU had five hits and a walk in the first two innings, but was unable to plate a run, due in large part to a rare batters interference and two controversial plays at the plate, where the Huskies were called out in both instances. The Huskies finally broke through in the third as Martinez singled to left and Brown's hit-and-run groundout moved him to second. McCoy followed with a single to the gap in rightcenter to give HBU a 1-0 lead, then Wiggins ripped a double down the rightfield line, but the Huskies were unable to capitalize further.
The strike zone shrank for Jones in the bottom of the sixth, as Toole and Guillotte drew back-to-back, one-out walks. Williams moved the runners over with a sharp grounder to first, then the Cowboys' first hit of the game was a big one, when Gooch hit a grounder past third base for a two-run single to give them a 2-1 lead.
The Cowboys added two more in the seventh, as Lloyd and Gordy led off with consecutive singles, then Toole delivered a two-out double to left center to put McNeese ahead, 4-1.
HBU returns to Husky Field for a four-game homestand, beginning Tuesday against UT Arlington at 3 p.m., followed by a three-game Southland Conference series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday through Sunday.
