McNeese State ended pre-conference play in style with a 9-1, five-inning mercy-rule win over Houston.

McNeese (16-9) took a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Crislyne Moreno tripled down the left-field line to score Chloe Gomez and Rylie Bouvier. Moreno scored on a passed ball.

Houston (12-13) got on the board in the second inning when Paige Hulsey singled and scored on a two-out single to left by Brooke Lorenzo. McNeese escaped further damage when Mariana Torres snared a line drive to end the inning with two runners stranded.

The Cowgirls extended the lead to 6-1 after three innings. They scored twice in the second. Torres was hit by a pitch and scored on an error. Delaney Durham singled and scored on a hit by Gomez. In the third, Kaylee Lopez doubled and stole home while Torres was escaping a rundown between first and second.

McNeese ended the game early with a three-run sixth inning. Lopez led off with a single. Pinch runner Rylee Eyster stole second and third before scoring on a single by Alayis Seneca. Gomez doubled down the right-field line to score Seneca. Bouvier beat out an infield single to score Torres and end the game.

Mattie Boyd (0-3) took the loss.

Bouvier, Gomez Lopez each had two hits. McNeese, which has won three of its last four games, finished with 12 hits in beating the Cougars a fourth consecutive time.

“I like that we played aggressively,” head coach James Landreneau said. “We didn’t have many weak fly balls. We put good contact on the ball and used the middle of the field. We were able to play fast.”

Houston had eight hits with Ja’Naiya Thomas and Paige Hulsey getting two each, but Cowgirls pitchers Shaelyn Sanders and Lindsay Davis (3-1) limited the damage.

“We were able to limit them to singles,” Landreneau said. “We preach to the pitchers to make them earn what they get. We didn’t give up big hits or any extra bases. If you hold them to singles you can scatter them out. We made plays on defense behind them.”

The Cowgirls will open Southland Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Incarnate Word in San Antonio. McNeese is the defending conference champion.