Cowboys earn extra-inning win with unearned run

Published 11:02 am Saturday, April 16, 2022

Call it two straight the hard way.

After blowing a lead in the top of the ninth, the Cowboys found a way to win Friday night in Joe Miller Ballpark.

After loading the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 11th, McNeese State waited until the last possible moment to pull out a 4-3 victory over Incarnate Word. It was the Cowboys second consecutive victory over the Cardinals.

With the count full, Julian Gonzalez hit a chopper toward first when Cardinal Alec Carr went in charging the ball. However, Carr booted the ball and Braden Duhon raced home from third with the winning run.

The Cowboys (18-16, 5-6 SLC) will go for the sweep today.

Duhon started the winning rally with a single to right, his first hit of the night but it extended his hitting streak to 16 consecutive games. Payton Harden followed with an infield single and when Peyton Johnson was hit by a pitch the bags were loaded with nobody out.

But Brad Burckel rolled out and Josh Leslie struck out, setting the stage for Gonzalez.

McNeese took a 3-2 lead into the ninth but Wilson Ehrhardt hit a towering home run off Cowboys closer Cameron Foster to tie the score and send it into extra innings. It was Foster’s third blown save of the season, all in conference play. Foster (2-1) responded by getting the win.

McNeese scored a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead in the third. Andruw Gonzales scored on a Duhon roller to first after leading the inning off with a single. Kade Morris, who singled, scored on Harden’s single to center.

They added another run in the fourth on Andruw Gonzales’ grounder to third that scored Leslie who had started the inning off with a double.

The Cardinals (15-16, 5-6) got on the board first with a run in the second. Hernan Yanez scored from second on Jimmy DeLeon’s sharp single to center with one out.

UIW collected four hits off Chance Stone in the inning, but he was able to limit the damage to the one run.

The Cardinals outhit McNeese 13-8 but left 10 runners on base, all in the first six innings. McNeese didn’t get a hit from the fourth until Duhon’s single to start the winning rally. They only got two base runners, one being thanks to a wild pitch on a strikeout.

Stone started for the Cowboys but managed two innings before he was forced to lead with a sore back. Christian Vega and Tyler Stone followed and kept the Cowboys in the game.

Tyler Stone worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the sixth, striking out a pair of batters. He struck out four of the six hitters he faced before turning the ball over to Foster.

During one stretch McNeese went 19 hitters without reaching base as Incarnate Word pitching stiffened after a tough start.

NOTES: The final game of the series is set for 1 p.m. today. After that McNeese will be home Monday night against former Southland rival Sam Houston State.