Monroe, La. - It appeared ULM had scaled the 10-run mountain they faced, and still had a chance to win the game or force extra innings.
Instead, the Warhawks came up a run short.
After trailing 12-2 going to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Warhawks (5-8 overall) rallied to seemingly tie the game at 13 on a grand slam by Chad Bell in the bottom of the ninth. However, McNeese State (9-5 overall) appealed to home plate, claiming a ULM baserunner had missed the plate in the celebration. The home plate umpire agreed, saying Braedon Barrett, who was on third base before the home run to right center, did not touch the plate. The result was a run taken off the board, and the second out of the inning. Andrew Beesley flew out to left in the next at bat to end the game, with McNeese taking the 13-12 victory.
"It's disappointing," said head coach Michael Federico. "I was watching the ball. I didn't see whether or not he touched it or not. Umpire tells me it's the first time he's ever made a call like that in his career. I guess their coaches or their team saw that he didn't touch the plate. He made the call. He must have felt really sure of it, because that's not a call you want to make in that opportunity by him as well.
"You got to do the little things. Touching home plate is an important part of the game. When you have that opportunity, you've got to be able to do it. I guess we didn't do it in that opportunity. You hate to take that away from Chad. We didn't pitch good enough to win it, but at the same time, I felt like we earned the opportunity to go into extra innings."
McNeese built the 10-run lead by setting the tone early. A pair of RBI doubles, one by Shane Selman and the other by Carson Maxwell, gave the Cowboys a 2-0 lead in the first inning. McNeese led 4-2 through four innings, and the lead ballooned after the Cowboys scored five runs in the fifth inning, including a two-RBI triple by Dustin Duhon, and added three more in the seventh inning, with a two-RBI triple by Reid Bourque, to lead 12-2.
The ULM rally started in the bottom of the seventh, when McNeese pitching issued four walks and two hit batters, forcing in a pair of runs. In the eighth inning, the Warhawks pounded out seven hits in the inning, with Nathan Miranda, Ryan Humeniuk and Blake Buckman each picking up an RBI and Trent Tingelstad driving home two runs for the five-run inning, closing the gap to 12-9.
After giving up a run in the top of the ninth, the Warhawks were poised to finish climbing the mountain. Barrett led off the inning with a single, and Miranda followed with a walk. After Humeniuk struck out, Tingelstad drew a walk to set up Bell's blast.
"Coach Collins and the hitters did a tremendous job of just grinding some at-bats down," Federico said. "The focal point in the dugout was try to get the next pitcher in the game. When you're talking about series baseball, you try to get as many arms in there as you can. Even getting the closer in for them tonight, getting (Adrian) Anderson in the game was huge for us because it helps, hopefully, in a series.
"Our hitters did a really good job of taking some really good at-bats, and then taking advantage of some walks and some things that McNeese gave to us and that opportunity to get us back in the game. College baseball is crazy. You just never know. You just never know if you're in it or out of it. On a Friday night, you don't see a whole lot of baseball games like this. But the wind is blowing. Proud of our hitters from that standpoint. Just disappointed in the outcome."
Humeniuk had three hits, including two doubles, with an RBI and three runs scored. Beesley also had three hits with two RBIs. Barrett and Miranda also added a pair of hits for ULM. Borque, the ninth hitter in the McNeese order, was 3-for-4 with a triple and five RBIs.
Rhett Deaton (2-1) earned the win for McNeese, throwing six innings in the start, giving up two runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Jacob Barton (1-2) takes the loss, giving up four runs, two earned, on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts over four innings. Will Dion, who gave up the homer to Bell, picks up his first save.
The Warhawks and Cowboys continue the series on Saturday with first pitch set for 6 p.m. at Warhawk Field. For tickets, call (318) 342-HAWK or visit ULMWarhawks.com. Links to live video, audio and stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.
