McNeese starter Whitney Tate danced around a couple of jams to lead the Cowgirls to a 4-2 win over Alabama-Birmingham in the finale of the season-opening Cowgirl Classic.

Each team scored a pair of runs in the first inning. UAB got a single from Sierra Frazier to score Lauren Brock and a RBI  double from Lindsey Smith.

McNeese (4-1) answered in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff single by Alayis Seneca and two-run homer to dead center by Crislyne Moreno.

UAB (2-3) had runners on second and third with no outs in the third inning, but Tate escaped the jam with two strikeouts and a diving stop by Moreno at first base for the final out.

The Cowgirls took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the inning. Seneca reached on an error to lead off the inning and scored on a two-run homer to left by Emily Phillips.

The Blazers loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh. Tate got a strikeout for the first out before being relieved by Ashley Vallejo.

Vallejo got a fly ball to left for the second out, with a Blazer baserunning infraction on the play resulting in the final out of the game.

Tate finished with eight strikeouts to improve to 2-0 on the season. Vallejo earned her first save of the season.

“Tate got into jams a couple of times but she kept herself composed the entire time,” McNeese head coach James Landreneau said.

“She was able to get swings and misses and was changing speeds really well today, She got weak contact off them. A turning point was (in the third inning) them getting runners on secon and third with no outs, she bowed her neck right there, attacked the strike zone and got a couple of punch outs, then we got the nice defensive play behind her. They got some traffic, but she showed some maturity, showed what you’d expect out of a senior.”

Tate’s performance capped a stellar weekend for the Cowgirls pitching staff, which allowed only seven runs over five games.

Tate allowed two runs in a complete game win over Idaho State Friday night.