BEAUMONT, Texas (Interstat) — Cooper Golden and Jarret Williams dueled in a classic pitcher’s standoff for six innings Friday night before the McNeese State Cowboys broke through late against the Lamar bullpen to secure a 3-1 victory in a Southland Conference series opener at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

The game’s pivotal sequence came in a chaotic top of the ninth inning. Nursing a 1-0 lead, Lamar reliever Ty Dagley entered and promptly walked the first two batters. After a mound visit and a pitching change to Cooper Carlgren, McNeese State’s Trahan executed a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. An intentional walk loaded the bases for Larry Edwards, who lined out sharply to the pitcher. With two outs, Bryce Fontenot was hit by a pitch, forcing in the tying run. The next batter, Schneider, hit a fielder’s choice to the mound, driving in the go-ahead run. A strikeout ended the inning, but the damage was done, turning a one-run deficit into a 3-1 lead.

That rally overshadowed a masterful performance from both starting pitchers. McNeese State’s Golden, the top star for the Cowboys, delivered 6 2/3 dominant innings, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out five. He worked out of trouble repeatedly, most notably in the sixth when Lamar scored its lone run. Taylor led off with a bunt single, advanced to third on a Durbin single, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Rodriguez. Golden limited further damage by picking off Durbin to end the inning.

His counterpart, Lamar’s Williams, was even more stifling through six frames. He held the Cowboys to one hit, a second-inning single by Barbero, and struck out five without allowing a run. He retired 15 of the final 16 batters he faced before handing a 1-0 lead to the bullpen.

The Cardinals’ offense out-hit McNeese State 6-3 but stranded multiple runners and hit into a critical inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the eighth. McNeese State relievers Jake Blackwell, Jaden Bahl and Brady Corcoran combined for 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief, with Corcoran striking out two in the ninth to seal the win.

The victory evened McNeese State’s season record at 8-8, while Lamar fell to 10-8. The result defied the pregame projections from Interstat, which gave Lamar a 57 percent probability to win and simulated a final score of 6-4 in favor of the Cardinals.

The two teams continue the three-game series on Saturday.