Demons' late run haunts McNeese
Grant Mangum is greeted at home by Bryce Fontenot (left) and Conner Schneider after his second-inning homer Thursday in Hammond. (Matthew Bonnette/McNeese Athletics)
Samuel Stevenson's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth lifted Northwestern State to a walk-off victory over the Cowboys to open play in the Southland Conference postseason.
Stevenson hit a 3-2 pitch to the left-center gap between a pair of McNeese State outfielders to sink the Cowboys 7-6 at Alumni Field in Hammond, Thursday afternoon..
The win puts the fourth-seeded Demons (34-19) on the winners' side of the Hammond Bracket, where they will take on the victor of Thursday's late game between top-seeded Southeastern and No. 8 New Orleans.
McNeese (32-16) will face the loser at 1 p.m. Friday, with its season on the line. During the regular season, the Cowboys swept UNO and took two of three from Southeastern in Hammond.
'A tough one,' McNeese head coach Justin Hill said. 'We have to move on. We can be upset for a moment, but after we eat dinner, we have work to do.'
The Cowboys, who entered the tournament as the fifth seed, had a history of playing well in Hammond. They were 7-2 all-time in tourney games at Alumni Field, winning it all in 2022 and making it to the championship game last season in a surprising run.
They were looking for more this year and led 6-5 entering the ninth on the arm of starter Sergio Lopez, who had gone the first eight innings. Lopez allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits during his afternoon. He had not walked a batter and struck out seven.
With the game on the line, Hill turned to All-Conference lefty Alexis Gravel, who had not pitched in three weeks due to an injury.
'It was a gut feeling,' said Hill.
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, that move didn't work out.
Gravel gave up a single to pinch-hitter Bryce Johnson and then hit Hudson Brignac, the No. 9 Demon hitter. Gravel was replaced by Eric Nachtsheim, who allowed a bloop single to Reese Lipoma to load the bases for Stevenson with nobody out.
'I thought Sergio was really good,' said Hil. 'He deserved to win that ballgame. I hate it for him.'
McNeese finished with 10 hits but left six runners on base.
'We had some good moments,' said Hill. 'We also left some runs out there.'
Gravel took the loss, falling to 4-3. Dylan Marionneaux (4-4) picked up the win in relief, allowing just one run on five hits while going the final four innings.
Catcher Grant Mangrum had a big day to lead the McNeese offense. The junior drove in four runs on a pair of hits, including blasting his second home run of the season, a two-run shot to start the scoring in the second.
His two-run single in the sixth was part of the Cowboys' three-run game-winning rally that gave them the lead for good at 6-4.
Clay Jung hit a solo home run in the eighth to cut the lead to 6-5. It was his seventh of the season and just over the glove of a leaping Conner Westenburg in right-center field.
Lopez's only other mistake was in the fifth when Rocco Gump hit a wind-blown homer to left, his eighth. It was a two-run shot that gave the Demons a 4-3 lead.
Now the Cowboys hope they can reboot some of that Hammond magic from the past, or their season will be over.
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