Rodrick Anderson

Whether it was the 19-1 blowout in Game 1 or a 4-1 squeaker in Game 2, McNeese State’s pitching staff ruled the diamond Saturday in a Southland Conference doubleheader sweep of Incarnate Word.

McNeese (17-15, 11-7 SLC) started a pair of southpaws in sophomore Will Dion and senior Jonathan Ellison, who held the Cardinals to two runs, one earned, in 131⁄3 innings.

“It takes two really good pitching performances from the guys who threw today to overshadow 19 runs in the first game,” McNeese head coach Justin Hill said. “I thought (the Cardinals) were really good. That is a good offensive club that does a good job of taking advantage of free bases.

“We did have a few in the second game, but I thought Jonathan worked around them. He was able to minimize the traffic. I was really proud of what Jonathan did, especially you know they are going to come out swinging after with what Will did in the first game.”

Dion (4-3) set the tone in the first game. He faced the minimum number of batters through five innings before Landon Etzel RBI single with two outs in the sixth inning broke up his no-hit bid. Dion finished with eight strikeouts and no walks in 61⁄3 innings.

“I was pretty confident because we have probably one of the best defense in the conference behind me,” Dion said. “I wasn’t really worried about anything. I was just trying to get through the game.”

In Game 2, Ellison (2-1) went seven innings with eight strikeouts and four walks. He gave up a home run to Grant Smith in the fourth inning but rebounded by allowing three base runners over the next three innings.

“Overall, (I) just filled up the zone,” Ellison said. “Will showed it in the first game, and that was good. He just filled up the zone and let them get themselves out.

“Overall, it felt good. (I) just (needed) to limit a couple of free passes here and there.”

Cameron Foster retired the side in the eighth and ninth inning to earn his first save. He had three strikeouts.

In all, the Cowboys pitching staff allowed one earned run on six hits in 16 innings Saturday. Before the Cowboys’ series with UIW (12-14, 8-11), the pitching staff had allowed 27 earn runs during a three-game losing streak.

“That is a big thing for us coming off last week,” Ellison said. “It kind of felt like we owed it to the team to show that, yeh, we have a great offense, but we also have a really good pitching staff.”

In game one, the Cowboys backed Dion up with 20 hits. Nate Fisbeck started the scoring with his fifth home run of the season, a three-run blast to left field and the Cowboys were off to the races.

The Cowboys best inning was a nine-hit, nine-run third inning highlighted by a three-run double by Fisbeck and Reid Bourque’s two-run double. Seven Cowboys had multiple hits, and Fisbeck finished with a season-high six RBIs.

Offense was harder to come by in the second game as UIW’s Michael Garza (3-1) pitched a complete game, holding the Cowboys to four runs on seven hits. Two of them were solo home runs by Jake Dickerson in the second inning and Julian Gonzales in the sixth inning. Bourque hit a two-out, two-run double break up a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning.

The series closes out at 1 p.m. today.

McNeese State’s Will Dion pitches against Incarnate Word during the first game of a doubleheader Saturday at Cowboy Diamond. Dion, who struck out eight, carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.