Photos courtesy of McNeese Athletics

Baseball

McNeese baseball stayed hot with dominant midweek wins over Southern University Tuesday and LSU-A Wednesday.

The Cowboys baseball team traveled to Baton Rouge Tuesday to face the Southern University Jaguars for a midweek matchup where they defeated Southern 14-5.

McNeese jumped out early as hits from junior outfielder DJ Pinkerton and senior infielder Marcus Heusohn helped build a big lead.

Southern showed some fight with a home run from Kameron Bryd, but McNeese’s offense stayed active, scoring in late innings to seal the victory.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Jairus Miller earned the win with four strong innings, finishing with five strikeouts.

Wednesday, the Cowboys returned home to host the LSU-Alexandria Generals.

Once again, the Cowboys built an early lead they refused to give up. McNeese scored first and consistently added runs throughout the game to take control. They totaled 12 runs on 8 hits, dominating the Generals who managed 2 runs on 5 hits. The Cowboys used a big five-run seventh inning to break the game open and trigger the mercy rule at 12-2.

Senior right-handed pitcher Paul Coppinger got the win on the mound, striking out five over three innings, and several relievers helped close it out.

McNeese improved to 7-6 on the season.

The Cowboys face Houston Christian at home today and Saturday for a weekend series in conference play.

Cowboy Basketball

The McNeese Cowboys continued their push toward the Southland Conference championship with back-to-back wins against the University of New Orleans Saturday and Nicholls Monday, positioning themselves near the top of the league’s standings.

McNeese battled the Privateers in a physical clash in New Orleans, edging out a 66-63 win in a game that saw both teams trading blows throughout. The Cowboys built a small first-half lead and held down the stretch as UNO kept pressure with tough defense and transition chances.

Freshman guard Larry Johnson led the Cowboys in scoring with 17 points.

“I know I say this a lot; I love that group in there,” McNeese head coach Bill Armstrong said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been prouder of a group of guys to win through that adversity. I’ll remember this win forever; I’ve never been a part of anything like that.”

In Monday’s regular-season finale, McNeese faced Nicholls in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and delivered a more comfortable performance in a 75-65 victory. The Cowboys never trailed after taking control, using a balanced offensive attack and timely defense to keep Nicholls at bay.

Johnson made history when he broke the school’s single-season freshman scoring record held by NBA Hall of Famer Joe Dumars. Johnson scored 25 points in the game to give him 532 on the season, passing Dumars who scored 527 in 1982. Junior guard Tyshawn Archie contributed 18 points, five assists, and six steals.

“We just wanted to come in here and just get a dub and finish the regular season strong and… I mean it was a tough win, but we pulled through,” Johnson said.

With the regular season wrapped, McNeese stands at 26-5 overall and 19-3 in Southland Conference play, finishing just behind conference leader Stephen F. Austin in the standings and entering the tournament as a high seed.

As postseason play begins, McNeese will look to carry this momentum into the Southland conference tournament with hopes of winning three consecutive conference titles and another NCAA Tournament berth.