Kjerstad gave Louisiana (28-13) its first lead of the game with a grand slam that lifted the Cajuns into a 6-5 lead. McNeese had built a 5-2 lead with runs scored in three straight innings from the second through fourth inning.

Harrison’s home run came three at bats later and extended the lead to 9-5. The Cowboys (19-19) chipped away at the lead, but the Cajuns stayed one step ahead.

An bases-loaded infield single from Blake Trahan in the eighth inning and two-out RBI single by Ryan Leonards in the ninth inning provided Louisiana with a two-run advantage each time McNeese trimmed the lead to one run down the stretch.

Matt Hicks kept the Cowboys scoreless in the ninth inning to capture his 10^th save of the season moving him into sole possession of first place on the school’s single-season charts.

With the win Louisiana completed the season sweep of McNeese State and defeated the Cowboys for the 13^th time in the past 15 meetings.

The Cajuns seek another season sweep on Wednesday when they host Southeastern Louisiana at M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Matt Plitt gets the starts for UL and he’ll be opposed by Jordan Hymel.

Kjerstad topped the Cajuns with four RBI. Leonards, Harrison and Caleb Adams each had two RBI. Leonards and Butler each posted three-hit games.

UL clubbed three home runs to increase the season total to 42. It’s the first time since 2010 the Cajuns reached 40 home runs.

The Cowboys first three runs of the contest came on doubles. Hans Ask broke a scoreless tie in the second inning with a RBI double down the right field line. Doubles by Connor Lloyd and Jackson Gooch produced two quick runs in the third inning, then an RBI single from Reed Gordy extended the Cowboys lead to 4-0.

Adams sliced the Cajuns’ deficit in half in the top of the fourth inning with his team-leading eighth home run. The two-run job came after Harrison began the frame with a bunt single.

Trahan drew a walk to start the sixth inning and the bases were later loaded when the second free pass of the inning issued by McNeese pitching came when Chase Compton was hit by a pitch from reliever Jacob Williams.

Kjerstad followed with his game-changing swing that unloaded the bases and gave the Cajuns the lead for good.

BASES NOTED: The Cajuns 14 base hits marked the 13^th time in the past 19 games the squad reached double figures and 24^th time overall…Dex Kjerstad joins Seth Harrison as Cajuns with grand slam home runs this season…Seth Harrison homered for the fourth straight game…The seven runs scored in the sixth inning marked the eighth time Louisiana produced at least six runs in an inning…Jace Conrad started at first base for the second straight game…Louisiana produced double digit runs for the ninth time…The Cajuns improved to 24-4 when scoring five runs or more…The sixth inning rally marked the second time this season the Cajuns rallied late in the game to defeat McNeese State as a three-run seventh inning at “The Tigue” on April 2 erased a 5-4 deficit.

LINE SCORE

Louisiana 11, McNeese State 9 (Apr 23, 2013 at Lake Charles, La.)

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Louisiana……….. 000 207 011 – 11 14 3 (28-13)

McNeese State……. 013 101 210 – 9 19 2 (19-19)

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Pitchers: Louisiana – Smith, Kody; Cockrell, Cord (4); Carter, Ben (6); Mayer, Kendall (7); Hicks, Matt (8). McNeese State – Gibson, Jason; Williams, Jacob (6); Parke, Tyler (8); Quary, Lucas (9)

Win-Cockrell, Cord (4-2) Save-Hicks, Matt (10) Loss-Williams, Jacob (1-1) T-3:33 A-732

HR UL – Kjerstad, Dex (7); Harrison, Seth (7); Adams, Caleb (8)

HR MCN – Drake, Taylor (3)

Weather: 80, partly cloudy, S @ 15 MPH

Gibson, J. faced 2 batters in the 6th

Cockrell, C faced 1 batter in the 6th

Parke, T. faced 1 batter in the 9th

— Ragin’ Cajuns —