Tilisha T. Alexander

Sports Writer

The Bulldog baseball team played a three-game series against the McNeese State Cowboys at J.C. Love Field this weekend, winning two and loosing one.

The Bulldogs (2-1) opened their first game of the season Friday night, defeating the Cowboys 9-7 on a seventh inning two-run homer by Stephen Winters to put Tech up for good.

After the Bulldogs had chalked up a 7-0 lead, the Cowboys (1-2) scored seven runs in the sixth inning by taking advantage of four Bulldog errors to tie the score.

Tech made an attempt to regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with runners on first and second base and no outs, before Brandon Haygood stepped to the plate and hit into a triple play to end the inning.

Winters' two home runs accounted for the final two runs of the game and won the game for the Bulldogs.

Tech posted 16 hits in the game, including three hits by Kyle Spangler and Winters each. Spangler had a home run and drove in two runs in the game.

Then came defeat in the second game of the three game series when the the Bulldogs lost 18-4 Saturday.

McNeese carried an 8-1 lead into the sixth inning before the Bulldogs battled back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.

However, that was as close as Tech would get, as the Cowboys scored 10 runs in the top of the ninth inning to end the 18-4 romping.

The Bulldogs struggled in the field at times as they committed five errors leading to two unearned runs. McNeese posted 16 hits against Tech's pitching staff.

Jacob Marceaux (1-0) was the winning pitcher, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing four runs with seven strikeouts.

Winters had three hits for Tech while Randall Lilley and Ben Tabor posted two hits each as the Bulldogs recorded 10 hits in the game.

Sunday, the Bulldogs won the series by defeating the Cowboys by a score of 9-3.

The Bulldogs scored four runs in the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie as the team posted double figures in hits for the third-straight game.

Freshman Blake Burns lead the Bulldogs to victory by throwing 2 2/3 innings. Last year's Louisiana High School Athletic Association's 5-A State MVP also struck out four McNeese players and allowed only one hit in his first collegiate appearance.

"I was real pleased with the way our freshmen stepped up today and came through for us," head coach Wade Simoneaux said. "Burns gave us some solid innings, and Steve Soper had a big home run for us to get us back in the game."

Soper, a freshman from Baton Rouge, hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to tie the score at 2-2 after McNeese had taken an early two-run lead.

The Bulldogs will play a three-game series with the Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Ark., beginning Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Baum Stadium.