LAKE CHARLES, LA - Bryan King won a pitching dual with Bradley's Cameron Roegner, lifting host McNeese State (5-5) to a 3-1 win versus the Braves (4-5) Saturday afternoon at Cowboy Diamond.

McNeese State earned its first win in five tries the last two seasons against the visiting Braves. Cowboys 1B Connor Crane was 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and two runs scored. After scoring the game's first run in the fourth inning, Crane drove in what proved to be the winning run with a RBI single in the fifth and he tacked on an insurance run with a home run against reliever Nathan Stong in the eighth.

Sophomore designated hitter Ian Kristan led Bradley's 8-hit attack by adding a 3-for-4 effort of his own. Kristan led off the seventh and ninth innings with singles, but the Braves came up empty in both innings.

After Crane scored in the home half of the fourth, Bradley had an immediate answer as 2B Allan Beer and LF Evan Gruener opened the fifth with consecutive doubles. The Braves had a chance for a big inning in the eighth after CF Andy Shadid and RF Brady Wilkin ended King's day with consecutive singles. Reliever Trent Fontenot got 3B Spencer Gaa to fly out and after Tyler Leffler reached on an error to load the bases, the Cowboys pitcher got out of the jam by inducing an inning-ending double play ground out from Paul Solka.

Collin Kober worked the ninth inning to secure his third save. King (1-0) picked up his first win by allowing one run on seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts in his 7.0 innings. Roegner (0-2) suffered the loss, despite a quality start: two runs on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts in 7.1 innings.

The teams will close out the weekend series with an early start Sunday. The first pitch has been moved up a half-hour earlier than originally scheduled, now a 10:30 a.m. start Sunday at Cowboy Diamond. Bradley freshman LHP Ben Olson is expected to start Sunday's game on the mound for the Braves.