Photo GalleryHOUSTON – McNeese State held off HBU, 2-1, in the first game, then the Huskies answered with a 4-3 decision in the second game as the two schools split a doubleheader to open Southland Conference play Friday afternoon at Husky Field.
In the second game, senior catcher
Samm Wiggins went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBIs and scored twice for the Huskies (7-7, 1-1 SLC). Senior centerfielder
Zach Nehrir, junior shortstop
Louie Payetta and senior third baseman
Curtis Jones recorded two hits apiece.
Junior lefthander
Matthew McCollough (3-1) allowed one run on eight hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 6.1 innings. Senior lefthander
Brandon Hammerly gave up one run in 1.2 innings, before senior righthander
Chris Garza gave up a run, but closed out the game for his second save.
Andrew Guillotte went 3-for-5 with a double and scored a run, while Cameron Toole drove in a pair for the Cowboys (10-5, 1-1). Lewis Guilbeau, Connor Lloyd and Matt Gallier each had a pair of hits.
Bryce Kingsley took the loss, allowing two runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and a walk in 5.2 innings, while Cole Prejean gave up two runs on two hits in 2.1 innings.
The Huskies struck first in the bottom of the third when junior leftfielder
Brandon Morones led off with a single, went to second on a passed ball, third on a sacrifice bunt, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Nehrir.
The Cowboys tied up the game in the top of the sixth when Guillote led off with double and scored on a single by Guilbeau.
Wiggins reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning, when he led off with a solo blast to left, his second homer of the year. HBU scored two more in the eighth on an RBI double by Wiggins and a sacrifice fly by freshman designated hitter
Zac Garcia to take a 4-1 lead.
McNeese rallied in the ninth as James Cantu, Lloyd and Gallier each singled to load the bases. Toole then smacked a two-run single up the middle to cut the Huskies' lead to 4-3. Bryce Packard followed by grounding into a double play, which moved Gallier to third, then Guillotte ripped a grounder down the third baseline, but Jones made a sliding backhanded stop, popped up and fired to first for the final out.
In the first game, Morones went 2-for-4 and scored the Huskies' lone run.
Senior righthander
Taylor Wright (2-2) took the loss, allowing two runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings.
Guillote and Billy Sommers each went 2-for-5 with an RBI and Guillote also scored a run. Connor Crane and Gallier each had two hits, with Gallier also scoring a run.
Kaleb Fontenot (2-1) earned the win for McNeese, allowing one run on five hits with six strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Collin Kober pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, while Cory LaPeze got the final two outs for his second save.
The game was scoreless through six innings, but Gallier led off the top of the seventh with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Guillotte delievered an RBI single, then later scored on a single by Sommers to give the Cowboys a 2-0 lead.
HBU also got on the board in the seventh as Morones led off with a single and scored on an RBI single by Garcia. The Huskies loaded the bases in the eighth and had the leadoff runner on in the ninth, but were unable to plate the equalizer.
The series concludes with a single game Saturday at 1 p.m. at Husky Field. The broadcast will be available on HBUHuskies.com, beginning at 12:45 with the pregame show.
