It took seven innings, but the Cowboys found their bats just in time Friday night.

After being stymied for almost three hours by New Orleans starter Grant Edwards, McNeese finally got to the Southland Conference’s reigning Pitcher of the Week.

The Cowboys scored six times in the bottom of the eighth to rally past the Privateers 8-5 to open a three-game weekend series at Joe Miller Ballpark.

The win was the sixth straight for McNeese (21-5, 9-4) and the ninth in its last 10 games. UNO fell to 15-13, 7-9. 

“A good win for our team,” said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. “Grant Edwards was so good tonight. We could not get to their bullpen early. It was a battle.”

The Cowboys entered the eighth down 5-2 with Edwards in complete control. He had retired 10 in a row, and McNeese had not had a hit for 16 batters since Conner Westenburg singled to start the third.

However, Westenburg started the eighth reaching on an error by UNO shortstop Diego Villescas, the first of three Privateer errors in the frame.

Matt Stancliff followed with a single, and when Mack Brousseau followed with a 2-run double to left, Edwards was done.

Reliever Ira Austin followed by walking his first two batters to load the bases. Davis Meche then gave McNeese the lead when he doubled to left, and three runs were scored after a pair of errors by UNO.

“It has been some time since we won on a Friday night to start a series,” said Meche. “We talked about doing that and setting the tone for the weekend.”

Ernest Dowell finished the scoring with an RBI single to center. Brady Corcoran came in to get the final three outs for McNeese to earn his second save. Jake Blackwell picked up the win to even his record at 1-1.

Austin took the loss, falling to 1-1 as well. 

Dowell led the Cowboys with two hits to raise his team-leading average to .420. Cole Plowman also had two hits as his average improved to .409.

McNeese was playing from behind right from the start, as UNO scored twice off starter Cooper Golden in the first. Bryan Loriga had four hits, including his fifth homer of the season. Collin Loupe also homered for the Privateers, hitting his third. 

“That is a really good offensive team over there,” said Hill. “It took a great job by our bullpen to keep things close.”

Six McNeese relievers combine to allow just five hits and one run over 5⅔ innings. They struck out five and walked just one.

Edwards finished with nine strikeouts and no walks, but he could not get out of the eighth, leaving after throwing 119 pitches.

Game two in the series is set for 11 a.m., but it has been moved up three hours to avoid the expected rain. 

Friday’s win was No. 351 in Hill’s career, all at McNeese. That makes him the seventh winningest coach in Southland history.