Easton Dowell opened the eighth, and Simon Larranaga closed it.

In between, the Cowboys scored five times to break open a tied game and win their series with Wichita State Saturday at Joe Miller Ballpark.

Each blasted their first home runs of the season as McNeese knocked off the Shockers 11-6 to win the first two games of the season’s opening weekend series. 

“I just wanted us to play good today,” said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. “It wasn’t clean, but we came out of it.”

The two teams will meet at noon Sunday for the finale. McNeese will start their third straight left-hander when Jack Blackwell takes the mound. 

Wichita State is expected to counter with senior lefty Jace Miner, a second-team all-conference player last year.

Dowell more than made up for an error in the top of the seventh that helped give the Shockers a 6-5 lead. After McNeese tied the game in the seventh, Dowell gave the Pokes the lead for good with his third hit and RBI.

“I botched that play back an inning before, so I needed that one,” said Dowell. “Everybody kind of forgot that error.”

Dowell, who is off to a .667 start at the plate, had his homer measured at 403 feet. Larranaga outdid that.

Larranaga gave the Cowboys plenty of breathing room with a 435-foot shot halfway up the batter’s eye in dead center to end the scoring.

“I think we have a tough lineup,” said Hill. “There will be times we punch out, but there will be sometimes we knock it out of the park.” 

The late runs made a winner out of Caleb Stimiska (1-0), who worked two scoreless innings to finish off the Shockers. He was the fifth McNeese pitcher of the day.

Marcus Heusohn and Davis Meche each added two hits for the Cowboys. 

Johnson Camden led the Shockers with a pair of hits and drove in four runs. 

Over the first two games, McNeese has scored 18 runs and picked up 24 hits, including three home runs and three triples, while batting in just 16 innings. Eleven of the Cowboys’ hits have gone for extra bases.

“We knew coming into the season we could swing the bat,” said Dowell. “I’m happy we are off to a good start.”