Harden makes heads-up play, Cowboys extend win streak
Jim Gazzolo, Special to the American Press
Payton Harden had but one option, come up firing.
The McNeese State center fielder did just that, helping the Cowboys to a 4-3 win over rival Louisiana-Lafayette Wednesday night at Joe Miller Ballpark in the process.
With the Cowboys clinging to the lead with one out in the top of the ninth, Ragin’ Cajuns pinch-runner Anthony Catalano was off and running from first. Kevin Fitzgerald executed the perfect hit-and-run, slapping a single to center.
But Harden was up to the challenge, grabbing the ball on one hop and firing to third, getting the sliding Catalano rather easily. Two hitters later the game was over.
“I saw him running, saw him come around second and knew he was dead,” Harden said. “It is the type of play you practice for and dream of.”
That victory made a winner of acting head coach Jim Ricklefsen, who was subbing for Justin Hill, who will miss three more games after testing positive Tuesday for COVID-19. Ricklefsen last won a game for the Cowboys in 1997 when he was the head coach.
“That was a great college baseball game,” Ricklefsen said. “It was a team effort. And Payday, he came up and gunned them down.”
It was the pitching by McNeese which was the real key. Five Cowboys threw, allowing six hits and two earned runs. Hunter Reeves earned the save, his second of the year, and Isaac Duplechain, a redshirt freshman from Barbe High, got his first career win.
“You have to give Peyton McLemore credit, he called a great game,” Ricklefsen said of his assistant coach who calls pitches.
But the most impressive man on the mound was McNeese lefty Jonathan Ellision, who showed he is recovering from a shoulder injury and could become an option for weekend work in the near future.
Ellision started for McNeese and simply overpowered ULL for three innings. He struck out five and didn’t allow a runner before exiting as planned.
“He threw the ball very well,” Ricklefsen said. “We only wanted him to go two innings, but he was so quick we gave him a third.”
Senior Clayton Rasbeary continued his torrid hitting in the early going, picking up three more hits, including a triple, and drove in a run. Over the five-game homestand, Rasbeary went .632 (12-for-19) with four doubles, two triples and eight RBIs. He has a hit in every game.
Back-to-back triples by Nate Fisbeck and Rasbeary followed a pair of bunt singles and fueled the Cowboys rally in the lone inning they scored, the fifth, erasing a 2-0 Cajuns lead.
“I feel real good at the plate,” Rasbeary said. “When we got our chance in that inning to score, we saw blood win the water.”
The win was the fifth straight for McNeese, which improved to 5-3. Lafayette (7-3) saw its own five-game streak snapped in the process.
McNeese will start a three-game series Friday night at Louisiana Tech.
Rick Hickman / American Press