Cowboys tame Tech
Published 9:48 pm Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Justin Hill believes his team will be better later in the year when it gets healthy.
Wednesday night, Hill’s Cowboys looked pretty good.
McNeese State won its first road game of the season and handed Louisiana Tech its first loss in Ruston.
The Cowboys (2-2) scored four runs in the top of the ninth to break open a close game and beat the Bulldogs (4-1) 8-3. McNeese is averaging six runs a game in the early going.
More importantly, McNeese’s pitching had its best outing so far, allowing just three runs to a Tech team that was coming off a big offensive weekend in a four-game sweep of Houston Christian.
The Cowboys will face Kansas (2-2) out of the Big 12 starting Friday in a 3-game series. The Jayhawks took 2-of-3 from Rio Grande Valley over the weekend, but fell to Lamar Wednesday night, 4-1.
Five pitchers held Tech to just three runs despite giving up seven hits and walking seven. Jake Blackwell, who struck out three in his two innings, picked up the win for his first decision.
Eric Nachtsheim also struck out three over the final two innings to pick up his first save.
The only person to do damage against McNeese pitching was Bulldog third baseman Colby Lunsford. The Louisiana-Monroe transfer hit two home runs, giving him four on the year, and drove in all three runs for Tech.
His two-run shot in the first gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. His seventh-inning shot cut the McNeese lead in half to 4-3.
Other than that, it was all Cowboys.
Hayden Stringfellow went 4-for-5 and drove in a run with a single in the ninth to lead McNeese’s 14-hit attack. Stringfellow is hitting .588 on the season. He also scored two runs.
Bryce Fontenot and Danny Barbaro both had two hits. Barbaro gave McNeese the lead for good with a two-run homer in the fifth that scored Conner Schneider, who had doubled.
It was Barbaro’s second home run of the season. He also had an RBI double in the seventh. Fontenot reached base all five times he batted, with two doubles, a walk, and two hit by pitches.
