Jim Gazzolo, Special to the American Press

Welcome back, Tré Obregon.

The McNeese State designated hitter returned to the lineup Friday night and promptly got right back in he swing of things — literally.

Obregon doubled and tripled in his first two at-bats back from a hamstring injury, but appeared to re-injury it in his third trip to the plate.

Before that he had done his job, helping to lead the Cowboys over Southland Conference co-leader New Orleans 8-6 at Joe Miller Ballpark.

Obregon’s triple in the bottom of the sixth tied the score at 2 and he later scored the lead run on Nate Collins’ single.

McNeese scored three runs in the seventh, using the second of two safety squeezes to produce the second one. Peyton Johnson bunted in that run, sending home Clayton Rasbeary. In the second Ben David gave McNeese a 1-0 lead when he bunted home Collins.

McNeese (20-21, 12-12 SLC) used four pitchers to get the win. The last, Cameron Foster, worked the final 22⁄3 to earn his third save of the season. Hunter Reeves got the win in relief. UNO scored three runs in the ninth to make things interesting.

The victory was the 220th in the career of McNeese head coach Justin Hill.

UNO (23-18, 18-11) took the lead with a pair of runs in the fifth, the second coming on their own version of the squeeze by Beau Bratton.

The two teams will continue their weekend series with a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. today. Lefties Will Dion (4-4, 3.81 ERA) and Jonathan Ellison (3-2, 2.98) will throw for McNeese while UNO will counter with righty Chris Turpin (7-1, 5.11) and left-hander Brandon Mitchell (3-1, 4.60).

UNO sent four pitchers to the mound, giving up 11 hits while walking nine batters.

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NOTES: Starting pitcher Bryson Hudgens retired 11 straight after giving up a game lead-off single until two outs in the fourth. … McNeese scored seven of its eight runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.McNeese athleticsMcNeese State University