HOUSTON, Texas – A scoreless game through six innings, Lamar University (4-17) took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh before a tough bottom of the seventh ultimately led to a 3-1 win for the University of Houston (12-8). Six Cardinal pitchers combined for seven strikeouts and eight scoreless innings.

"Our pitching has been great," said head coach Will Davis. "We were third in the Southland Conference heading into tonight behind the best two teams in the conference, and we've been in most of our games this year because of our pitching staff. They gave us a chance to win by throwing up seven zeroes. I think if that continues we will win some games down the road."

Cole Secrest led off the seventh with a double to left center field, snapping a three-game hitless streak. Robin Adames pushed him to third on a grounder to short, and a single from Cole Coker scored Secrest. Coker advanced to second on a balk with two outs, and he was joined on the bases when Chase Kemp drew a walk in a pinch hit. But a strikeout stranded both Cards, ending the inning with Lamar leading 1-0.

"Cole Coker is a good hitter," said Davis. "There's no one I'd rather have up there right now. He had a lot of big moments for us last year as a freshman, though he hit the freshman wall near the end of the year, bringing his average down a bit. As we've found out this year, it's a tough transition for freshmen to hit in Division I baseball. We expected Cole to make that jump, and he's finally done it."

Houston collected three runs on four hits in the seventh inning to capture the game from Lamar. Chase Whetsel would single with two outs in the eighth, his second hit of the day, but he would be stranded on a strikeout. Ryan Erickson struck out three batters in the bottom of the eighth to keep Big Red within two runs, but LU couldn't push any more runs across in the ninth. The final from Schroeder Park: Houston 3, Lamar 1

"Erickson has two breaking balls, a cutter and a curve ball, that they can't hit," said Davis. "That's been such a weapon. He's got the poise on the mound we need and he's controlled the running game for the most part.

He's just filling up the strike zone too, which is a big thing for a new pitcher. His success along with several others in the bullpen this season is why we feel confident in making Tanner Driskill our starter this Friday night. We didn't have that luxury last year, and now it gives us the chance to throw our best pitcher on Friday."

The Cardinals will return to action Friday in the first of three games at the University of the Incarnate Word (13-9, 2-1 Southland). Lamar will then briefly return home for a mid-week game against Northwestern State (11-9, 2-1 Southland) on March 27 before hitting the road again to close out March at Houston Baptist (8-13, 2-1 Southland) March 29-31.