McNeese Baseball tops Rice on the road

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - McNeese baseball was in Houston on Wednesday for a mid-week matchup against the Rice Owls, and it was a back-and-forth battle for three hours. McNeese hung a crooked number on the board first thanks to a Chase Keeton double to the wall in right-center field that brought in both Brad Burckel, and Tre’ Obregon III, and then Keeton was brought in thanks to a Taylor Darden ground out later in the second inning.

From then on Rice went on a 4-0 run as they scored one in the third, and three in the fifth, and so the back-and-forth battle commenced. Braden Duhon tied the ballgame up in the sixth for McNeese with a single to center field that brought in Obregon III, but then a Ben Royo solo home run and a sacrifice fly for Rice in the bottom half of the inning, put the Owls back in front in the bottom half of the inning.

From then on neither team would score again until the top half of the ninth when the Pokes attempted to fight back. Down 6-4, Payton Harden cut the deficit to one with a fielder’s choice that brought in Braden Duhon, and then Josh Leslie tied the game up with a ground out that scored Andruw Gonzales. Then with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Cooper Hext got a hold of one and sent it out to the wall in right-center field, which turned into an RBI triple that scored Harden from second and put the Pokes back in front for the first time since the fifth inning, and that score would hold as McNeese went on to win it 7-6.

The win improves McNeese to 22-11 on the season, and they will now head to Hammond, for a big time showdown that is set to begin on Friday at 6 p.m.