Winning Moment

Upset over LSU is a boost to McNeese

By Jim Gazzolo

Not all mid-week games are the same.

Some just mean more.

For McNeese State, its mid-week baseball game on Tuesday came against maybe the best team in the nation, LSU.

The defending national-champion Tigers entered undefeated in eight games and ranked No. 1 in some polls and No. 2 officially. They had been dominant with an offense that had bashed its way to those eight victories.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys had just been beaten by Kansas in three straight home games, being outscored 25-5. 

Yet on Tuesday, at Alex Box Stadium, McNeese proved that in baseball, anything can happen. The Cowboys shocked the Tigers 7-6 to improve to 3-5 and get a huge confidence boost heading into Southland Conference play this weekend at Nicholls State.

“It’s not every day you beat those guys,” said McNeese head coach Justin Hill. “So, it’s a big deal for us. LSU is going to be just fine.”

Hill, who is the all-time program leader in victories, should know he played two years at LSU. 

That’s true, the Tigers will brush this aside and move forward, continuing to bash their way toward the postseason. 

But for the Cowboys, this is the type of game that could really be a big boost to a club trying to find itself in the early going. 

For guys like Danny Barbaro, who drove in a pair of runs, and Larry Edwards, who picked up two hits for the Cowboys, they find out they can play on this level. 

Hill should know; he pitched two seasons at LSU and has had success as a coach against his old team. Hill’s Cowboys have won four times in 13 tries against the Tigers, including winning three of the last nine meetings.

McNeese beat LSU when the Tigers were ranked No. 6 in 2017 and again in 2019.

“Any time you beat those guys at their place, that’s a good time, good timing,” Hill said. “We’ve played some really good teams; that was obviously the best one.”

This Cowboy team is also looking for pitchers who can help later in the season, and may have found one. Freshman left-hander Jarius Miller threw three innings of scoreless relief to pick up his first career win.

“He gave us nine outs out of the bullpen,” Hill said. “He did a great job of settling the game down for us. Pitched out of some traffic in his first inning.”

After falling behind 2-0 early, the Cowboys rallied to take a 7-2 lead with help from nine LSU pitchers, many of whom struggled to throw strikes. Then eight McNeese hurlers helped hold off a late Tiger rally that ended on the warning track.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game,” Hill admitted. “It was ugly in some ways. But we came out on top.”

And in this mid-week game, that’s all that mattered.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers sports in Southwest Louisiana. He is also the host of Poke Nation, which airs weekly on CBS-Lake Charles.