Cowboys out of chances, bullpen buys time but offense can’t convert

Published 10:00 am Sunday, March 27, 2022

McNeese State’s bullpen put up goose eggs for seven innings, but the offense struggled and Parker Edwards struck again as Houston Baptist took the second game of the Southland Conference series 5-3 Saturday at Joe Miller Ballpark.

Edwards, the star of the Huskies’ 6-4 13-inning win Friday night, went deep for the third time in the series with a two-run blast to center field off McNeese starter Ty Abraham (2-3) for a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Cowboys (11-12, 0-2 SLC) trailed 5-0 before they scored twice in the bottom of the second inning.

McNeese left 10 base runners stranded.

“We got out to kind of a bad start after a tough one last night,” McNeese head coach Justin Hill said. “When you are playing from behind, it feels like you have to be perfect, which you don’t have to be.

“There were a couple of instances where we could have got a run without a hit. We kind of did that a couple of times when (Braden) Duhon punched across an extra run in the second inning to get us a little bit closer.

“We are just not playing really well right now. Your confidence will take a hit a little bit. That is going to happen, and (the Huskies) are playing well, so that is a tough combination on the weekend.”

All four of HBU’s (8-15, 2-0) hits were extra-base hits, including an RBI double by Diego Davila to score the game’s first run and another RBI double from Sebastian Trinidad in the second inning.

Game three will start at 1 p.m. today with McNeese looking to avoid the sweep.

Abraham struck out five and walked one before he retired to the dugout after the second inning. He was replaced in succession by Christian Vega, Brian Shadrick and Daniel Hecker. The trio didn’t allow a hit or run and three base runners through the final seven innings.

“They gave us a chance there,” Hill said of the bullpen. “I thought Christian Vega came in and settled the game down a little bit.

“That is going to happen. Ty is one of our best arms but just didn’t get out to a good start. We made a mistake and they hit one over the fence.

“The bullpen was good. Christian Vega, Brian Shadrick and Daniel gave us a chance, and we just ran out of outs on the offensive side tonight.”

McNeese had a chance to rally in the ninth inning when Julian Gonzales and Brad Burckel hit back-to-back singles with one out. But HBU reliever Andrew Reitmeyer struck out two to end the game and pick up the save. Jared Burch (1-2) earned his first win with six strikeouts and four walks in five innings.

“That is going to happen,” Hill said. “We did a good job getting in that position. You can’t always get the hit in the moment, but you want to make sure you have a good at-bat, and (Reitmeyer) was just a little bit better than us tonight.”

Josh Leslie led McNeese at the plate, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the second inning.