It wasn’t pretty, required a little luck and a lot of overtime, but the McNeese Cowgirls beat rival UL-Lafayette 6-5 in 13 innings to extend its winning streak to 10 games.
McNeese (22-14) fell behind on three different occasions, but pulled out the win in the thirteenth, loading the bases on a single by Alayis Seneca and walks by Kendall Talley and Jil Poullard. Crislyne Moreno hit a grounder and the throw home sailed over the catcher’s head, allowing pinch runner Erin Ardoin to score the winning run.
Whitney Tate earned the win with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
UL-L took the lead off the bat, with Stormy Kotzelnick hitting a leadoff home run.
Poullard launched a homer to center to tie the game at 1-1.
The Cajuns took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning on a solo homer by Karly Heath in the fourth inning. Heath doubled in the sixth to score Melissa Mayeux, extending the lead to 3-1.
The Cowgirls evened the score in the bottom of the sixth. With runners on first and second, Poullard singled to center. Seneca scored on the hit and Talley scored after the ball was misplayed in the outfield.
UL-L went ahead again in the eleventh inning, with Kramer Eschette hitting a two-run single to right.
McNeese knotted the score in the bottom of the inning. Talley hit a bloop double to center to score Reese Reyna, then scored when Poullard reached on a dropped third strike.
“To come back three different times shows great maturity,” head coach James Landreneau said.
“We had too many great defensive plays to mention. The pitchers did a great job of scattering hits and minimizing damage. Poullard put a lot of pressure on them and Talley is such a tough out. Even after mistakes I could look in our player’s eyes and see that they were ready for the next play. We always talk about playing that way but to see them actually do it was a great joy.”