McNeese baseball defeated Southland Conference regular season champion Southeastern 15-9 on May 15 to move forward in the winner’s bracket of the Southland Conference Tournament.
The win allows McNeese to play again on Saturday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the Southeastern and Houston Christian game, which will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Matt Stancliff led McNeese offensively, finishing with three hits, three runs batted in, two runs scored, and a double. Kaden Schuck also contributed by going three-for-four with an RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. With this victory, McNeese improved its overall record to 30-23 while Southeastern dropped to 32-20.
“Offensively we were able to get going early and were able to sustain it the entire time,” said head coach Justin Hill.
After two scoreless innings, McNeese took control in the third inning by scoring four runs. Stancliff started with an RBI single up the middle. Danny Barbero reached base on an error that brought home another run. Hayden Stringfellow hit an RBI double and Isaiah Keller added an RBI single for a four-run lead.
Southeastern responded in the fourth inning when Connor Cuff hit a three-run home run that reduced McNeese’s lead to one run. “Great start by Cooper Golden in a hostile environment playing the host in a 1-0 game,” Hill said about his starting pitcher. Golden pitched four innings and allowed three runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
McNeese had its biggest offensive surge during the fifth inning by scoring seven runs. Keller hit a two-RBI double; DJ Pinkerton contributed with a sacrifice fly; Schuck and Easton Dowell each delivered RBI singles; Stancliff finished off the frame with a two-run double.
Though Southeastern narrowed the gap later in the game—including adding multiple runs over several innings—McNeese maintained its advantage through strong bullpen pitching from Paul Coppinger and Jake Blackwell.
