Latest news with #HammondBracket
American Press
16-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Cowboys eliminated from tourney
Cooper Golden threw six shoutout innings Friday but it wasn't enough for the Cowboys. (Matthew Bonnette/McNeese Athletics) This is not the ending they expected. Just a month after the Cowboys were fighting for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and a league title, their season is over. McNeese State's hopes of a postseason revival ended Friday afternoon at Alumni Field in Hammond. Top-seeded Southeastern knocked the Cowboys out of the Hammond Bracket with a 7-4 victory in the first elimination game. Southeastern (xx-xx), the Southland Conference co-champs, will move on to play the loser of Friday night's game between New Orleans and Northwestern State. Fifth-seeded McNeese (32-17) will start thinking about next year after going 0-2 in Hammond. 'Not the type of ending we expected,' said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. Just 19 days ago, the Cowboys were alone in first place. They finished the season winning just two of their last 11 games as injuries to the pitching staff piled up. The Lions scored four runs after two were out in the top of the ninth, as the McNeese bullpen faltered for the second straight day. It really hurts how this fell apart. With the score tied, Jake Blackwell struck out the first two Lions in the ninth and jumped ahead of pinch-hitter Jade Hall before hitting him. That started a string of trouble for McNeese. Parker Coley followed with an infield single hit behind third, and Hall raced to third. Coley raced home with the run to break a 3-3 tie when McNeese first baseman Marc Heushon lost track of him. The Lions added on three more runs, which proved huge when Cowboy Larry Edwards homered to lead off the bottom of the ninth. McNeese put the next two runners on base, but could do no more damage off SELA closer Brady St. Pierre. Pierre, the league's Relief Pitcher of the Year, worked the final 3⅔ innings, allowing just the one run for the win to improve to 2-1. Blackwell gave up six runs, four earned, in 2⅔ to take the loss, dropping to 3-3. The Lions started their comeback with three runs in the seventh to tie the game at three. Payton Woods' two-out, two-run single was the big hit and came after McNeese starter Cooper Golden had worked his way out of trouble in the sixth. The lefty retired TJ Salvaggio on a ground ball to third with the bases loaded to end the inning. Golden was able to get out of the trouble despite suffering what appeared to be a cramp in his left leg. Golden worked six innings, scattering eight hits before turning the ball over to the bullpen. A slight change in the batting order led to a fast start for McNeese. Bryce Jones stepped into the leadoff spot and promptly singled on the first pitch from SELA starter Lakin Polk, who lasted just one inning, allowing six hits. The first five hitters reached for the Cowboys, who scored three times to take a 3-0 lead. Marc Brousseau tripled and Larry Edwards doubled to lead the attack.
American Press
15-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
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.
American Press
14-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Same foe, new season
At least the Cowboys won't need to do much scouting in preparation for their first-round postseason opener Thursday. McNeese State begins play in the Hammond Bracket of the Southland Conference tournament against a very familiar foe, Northwestern State. The two teams just finished a three-game series that the Demons won 2-1 last weekend in Natchitoches. McNeese's late rally fell a run short in the finale, as the Cowboys lost 7-6 and fell all to the fifth seed despite finishing tied for third with Lamar (No. 3) and the Demons (No. 4). 'What has happened in the past doesn't matter,' said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. 'This is a new season and we get a second chance.' The Cowboys and Demons will open the bracket at 1 p.m. with the game streaming on ESPN+. In the first game, top-seeded Southeastern plays No. 8 New Orleans in the night game. Texas-Rio Grande Valley will host the Edinburg Bracket and open against No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Lamar will open against Houston Christian. 'This tournament is wide open,' said McNeese center fielder and All-Conference selection Conner Westenburg. 'We beat everybody in this tournament, but everybody beat us. It is a coin flip.' McNeese enters the tourney 32-15 and 19-11 in league play. Northwestern State is 33-19, 19-11. The Cowboys are looking forward to the opener after last weekend. 'They got us last week,' said Edwards.'That doesn't matter now.' This is what the Cowboys have been building for this spring. They are 8-4 this season against the three teams joining them in Hammond, including taking two of three from the league co-champion Lions. 'We have been waiting for this all season,' said left fielder Larry Edwards. 'Everybody is 0-0. We know what we have to do and we are ready to go.' The Cowboys hope they found a surprise for the Demons in Bryce Jones. Recovering from a hand injury that sidelined most of his season, Jones homered twice and drove in four runs in Saturday's third game. 'He was swinging, but it was hurting him for a few weeks,' said Hill. 'Then he was swinging, and we could tell it wasn't hurting him, so we wanted to see if we got anything. We got something for sure.' The Cowboys hope to get something from Alexis Gravel, who was the ace for most of the season. He has missed his last couple of starts and could be back from some innings this weekend. 'We aren't going to do anything that would hurt his future,' said Hill. 'We will be smart. He has a chance to play for money one day. But we will see what he can do.' The Cowboys have had success in Hammond in the past. They won the title there three years ago and lost the title game last year after making a huge postseason run. 'I think the field plays a lot like ours, so we are comfortable,' said Hill.
American Press
12-05-2025
- Sport
- American Press
Cowboys fall to 5th seed
Cowboys fall to 5th seed Published 2:22 pm Monday, May 12, 2025 The Cowboys may be limping into the postseason, but at least they don't have to make a long trip to Edinburg, Texas. McNeese State lost two of three games at Northwestern State over the weekend but will now get new life in a town where they have already had success this year. The Cowboys fell to the fifth seed in the Southland Conference after losing their final three regular-season series. After a record 12-game win streak, injuries and a tired bullpen caught up to McNeese. Email newsletter signup Now the Cowboys (32-15) will get a fresh start when they take on fourth-seeded Northwestern State again Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Hammond Bracket. 'It is the second season,' said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. 'We get another chance to play some more baseball together. That's what we want, a chance to win a championship. We put ourselves in that spot.' The Cowboys have that in a wide-open tournament. McNeese finished in a three-way tie for third at 19-11 in the SLC but lost the tiebreaker to Lamar (third seed) and Northwestern State. Lamar heads to Edinburg to take on No. 6 Houston Christian in the bracket hosted by No. 2 Texas-Rio Grande Valley. In the late game Thursday night in Edinburg, UTRGV will take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (No. 7). Back in Hammond, No. 1 Southeastern will host eighth-seeded New Orleans in the late game. The Lions and UTRGV tied for the title, but SELA won that tiebreaker, showing just how close this race was all season. 'I think just about any team can win this depending on how they play the next two weeks,' said Hill. 'Every weekend has been a dog fight this year. We have a lot of good teams in this conference. That makes it exciting for everybody.' McNeese should feel good heading into this bracket despite the tough weekend against the Demons. The Cowboys are 8-4 against the other clubs in Hammond. 'I don't think that matters now,' said Hill. 'We just have to play better baseball.' McNeese took two of three from Southeastern and swept New Orleans. Against the Demons, the Cowboys lost 7-6 in the series finale when their late rally came up short. Junior outfielder Bryce Jones, making just his third start of the season and second in a row, had three hits and drove in four runs for McNeese Saturday. Jones homered in his last two at-bats, and the Cowboys hope they can carry that momentum into the postseason. 'Bryce, we could see him getting healthy, so we put him in to see what we had,' said Hill. 'We saw we might have something.' The Cowboys hope to get a couple of arms back as well. 'We went to UTRGV and we lost two tough ballgames,' said Hill. 'We had a lead late in both of them. I think our team got discouraged. 'That part's over. We didn't get to where we wanted. I think you'll see a little bit different group come Thursday.' It will be a second chance for the 32-15 Cowboys. Featured Local Savings
