LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Despite late offensive production breaking through during both halves of the twin bill, the Nicholls State University baseball program (20-30, 15-20 SLC) failed to overcome a consistently aggressive McNeese (25-26, 18-16 SLC) squad across Saturday afternoon's doubleheader, initially dropping a 13-3 contest to the surging Cowboys before falling short, 10-7, in a near-successful rally attempt -- scored four runs two outs deep into the ninth -- to close out the day at Joe Miller Ballpark in Lake Charles, La.

The bats connected early and often for McNeese as the team racked up 13 unanswered runs across the opening six innings of game one, powering through three members of the Red & Gray pitching staff in the process. Prior to the Cowboys sealing the victory, however, seniors Dillon Belle and Greg Anderberg erased the shutout behind a pair of RBI singles, plating three runs before the home bullpen took over to clean up the win.

The second contest saw the Colonels find their first lead of the series, bolting out to an early two-score advantage via a Wes Toups RBI triple along with a Belle groundout in the opening frame; the Cowboys, though, quickly responded to the Red & Gray challenge, knotting up the matchup behind a two-run shot in the first before a pair of second-inning solo homers pushed McNeese out to yet-another lead. A 6-to-1 scoring advantage for the Cowboys over the following six frames locked in a seemingly-insurmountable edge, but a resilient Colonel attack reared two outs into the ninth, tacking on four runs behind a double, a triple and a single, respectively, before running out of steam.

KEY STORYLINES & STATISTICS
-- With the pair of losses, the Colonels fall to 20-30 overall for the season along with a 15-20 mark in Southland competition; meanwhile, McNeese improves to 25-26 on the year with an 18-16 record in league play.
-- The Colonels endured a tough day on the mound across both contests, utilizing four pitchers in each matchup with the entire group surrendering 23 combined runs on 26 total hits all while setting down 18 batters on strikes. The game one loss fell to senior Trever Kilcrease (2-8), who gave up five runs on seven hits across 1.2 frames of action, while the defeat in latter half of the doubleheader was saddled on starter Josh Mancuso (0-2), who allowed four runs on five hits during 2.0 innings on the bump.
-- Offensively, junior Dane Simon compiled the most effective day swinging the bat for the Colonels behind four total hits and one run scored; additionally, five other Colonels -- Anderberg, Belle, senior Alex Galy, sophomore Austin Cain and freshman Wes Toups -- notched an overall multi-hit effort, racking up two apiece for the twin bill. Meanwhile, just Belle and sophomore Xane Washington managed to register multiple RBIs across the back-to-back offering, plating a pair of runs each during the day.
 
ON DECK
With the series nearly complete, the Red & Gray look to avoid the sweep in the weekend finale on Sunday afternoon, first pitch slated for 1 p.m. at Joe Miller Ballpark.

STAY SOCIAL
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