Cowboys not taking NAIA LSU-A lightly

{{tncms-inline alignment="left" content="<p class="p1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1"><strong>LSU-Alexandria </strong></span><strong>at McNeese, </strong><strong>6 p.m.</strong></p>" id="9fbb8298-ccac-4964-8cef-64f298a039af" style-type="fact" title="TONIGHT" type="relcontent"}}

<p class="p1">The McNeese State baseball team will look to split its midweek with a win against LSU-Alexandria at 6 p.m. today at Joe Miller Ballpark.

<p class="p3">The Cowboys (10-18) enter the game fresh off a 5-4 Monday loss to Texas, where the Cowboys came a run shy of erasing a five-run deficit created with help of three unearned runs.

<p class="p3">McNeese had a light practice Tuesday after returning from Austin, Texas, to prepare for the Generals (17-17). McNeese head coach Justin Hill said the Cowboys may be favored simply being an NCAA Division I school, but that won’t keep them from taking NAIA LSU-A as seriously as any other opponent.

<p class="p3">“We played them last year and they’re going to come out and compete,” Hill said. “There’s an expectation on both sides to win. One team is probably favored, sure, but it’s all about respecting your opponent and going out to play well.”

<p class="p3">Freshman lefty Adam Goree (0-2, 11.45 ERA) will start on the mound for the Cowboys after missing last week due to an undisclosed injury.

<p class="p3">Hill said he threw on flat ground and had a couple bullpen sessions over the weekend and that the coaching staff says he’s ready to go.

<p class="p3">Goree struggled in his six appearances prior to the injury, and Hill said he hopes Goree’s first outing in two weeks will give him confidence.

<p class="p3">The Barbe High product is yet to through four innings despite starting multiple midweek games, including games against Houston and Louisiana-Lafayette.

<p class="p3">In his last start against the Ragin’ Cajuns, he went 1<span class="s2">2</span>⁄3 innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits with a walk, forcing Hill to turn to the bullpen early.

<p class="p3">“We need him to go out and pitch well,” Hill said. “We’ve tried to make some adjustments with him. It’s been difficult because he didn’t have a fall. We’re going to let him go and hopefully we’ll have a better outing from him, for his sake and for ours.”

<p class="p3">Hill and the Cowboys will be looking to get as much out of Goree as they can after using five pitchers against Texas, including starter Grant Anderson and regular relievers Cayne Ueckert, Chris Campbell and Aidan Anderson.

<p class="p3">Both teams enter today’s game as losers of three of their last four games, as the Cowboys lost their previous series with Southeastern Louisiana and the Generals dropped their series to Texas A&amp;M-Texarkana this past weekend.

<p class="p3">Logan Constantine leads the Generals (.392) with a slugging percentage of .559 thanks to 11 doubles. Third baseman Bryce Laird follows Constantine with a .365 hitting clip and a team-high .484 on-base percentage. The Generals have five players batting better than .300.

<p class="p3">The Cowboys have struggled at the plate, hitting .239. Shane Selman is hitting a team-best .304, and center fielder Jacob Stracner has been hot, hitting .349 with two home runs, six RBIs and five runs in the last nine games.

<p class="p1" style="text-align: left;"><span class="s1"><strong>LSU-Alexandria </strong></span><strong>at McNeese, </strong><strong>6 p.m.</strong>

      72ed1f22-a76d-11e8-865c-27bc4802faa22018-08-24T07:15:17Zsprh.0823.barbe.vs.deridder-8.jpgRick HickmanBarbe Bucs (46) makes the hit on punter DeRidder’s Dakota Bergeron during the their game of the SPOT Therapy/Billy Navarre Chevrolet Jamboree at Sulphur High School in Sulphur, La., Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018. (Rick Hickman/Lake Charles American Press)””

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