Boise State sophomore Kelsey Hall brought a big stick to Cowgirl Diamond Friday afternoon while McNeese State faltered at the plate in a 4-1 Broncos win to open a three-game nonconference series.

Hall smashed a pair of solo home runs, drove in three runs and went 4-for-4, while the Cowgirls (10-10) went without an extra-base hit. Hall doubled her season total to four home runs while the Broncos (18-5) have 33 as a team.

“You have to tip your hat to (Hall),” McNeese head coach James Landreneau said. “She had a day. She destroyed us with three RBIs, two big home runs. She had a heck of a day and we have to do a better job of trying to contain her.

“Their lineup is powerful. They hit home runs and they have been electric all season, scoring runs in bunches.

“Through about four or five (innings), I was thinking we were giving ourselves a shot. The pitching staff was giving us a chance to stay in the game, and we were just a swing away from getting back in it. We just couldn’t get the timely hit today.”

McNeese got at least one runner on base each inning but left seven stranded, including five in scoring position. The Cowgirls were gifted six bases on balls from Broncos pitcher Hannah Bailey (7-1), who pitched a complete game.

“We were able to get traffic on the bases pretty consistently,” Landreneau said. “We just couldn’t come up with a knock.

“We were able to extend innings pretty well.”

Hall led off the game with a solo shot to center field.

McNeese tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning when Alayis Seneca scored from third while Toni Perrin got caught in a rundown between first and second bases.

The Cowgirls had a chance to take the lead in the second inning. Chrislyne Moreno hit a one-out single and moved to third on a stolen base and passed ball but was left stranded.

Boise added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning on a single and home run by Hall and a home run from Serena Huchingson.

Whitney Tate (2-5) took the loss after allowing two runs on six hits in 51/3 innings.

The series will conclude with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. today.

“I know the team will be ready to play,” Landreneau said. “They will come with tons of energy and compete hard, and we will need every bit of it to play with a good team like Boise.”