Senior Erik Kanaby went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 20-games, which is the second-longest in school history.

Baseball 3/6/2007 12:00:00 AM

Lamar Falls at Houston, 7-1

March 6, 2007

HOUSTON - Senior Erik Kanaby had an infield single to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, but that was one of the few bright spots for the Cardinals as Lamar dropped its third straight game in Tuesday's 7-1 loss at Houston at Cougar Field.

Lamar dropped to 9-6 on the season while Houston improved to 8-9. The Cardinals return home to host Northern Colorado in a three-game series this weekend at Vincent-Beck Stadium. Lamar and UNC will play Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m. Sunday's game was moved up one hour to accommodate the Bears' travel plans.

UH started the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning and added a second in the third. In the first inning, Felix Fanaselle walked and Jimmy Cesario followed with a single to right field to put runners on the corners. Dustin Kingsbury drove in Fanaselle with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Ryan Lormand doubled to left center in the third inning. Fanaselle followed with a double to left center, but Lormand had to hold up on the play to make sure it wasn't caught by Erik Kanaby in left field. Kingsbury drove in Lormand with an RBI ground out to second to put the Cougars up 2-0.

Lamar cut the lead in half with a run in the top of the fourth inning. Michael Ambort led off the inning by reaching on an error by Kingsbury at shortstop. He advanced to second on a balk by Donnie Joseph and moved to third on a passed ball by Luis Flores. Dan Hernandez drove in Ambort with an RBI ground out to shortstop.

UH responded with two runs on the home half of the fourth. Bryan Tully, who was 4-for-5, reached on a ground rule double to left field and stole third base. Bryan Pounds drove in Tully with a ground out to second base. Zak Pressley reached on a line drive single off Lamar pitcher Brian Needham. Lormand, who was 2-for-4, followed with an RBI double to right center field to put the Cougars up 4-1.

The Cougars added two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Fanaselle walked and took second on Cesario's sacrifice bunt. After Fanaselle moved to third on a wild pitch, Stirneman walked to put runners on the corners. Tully drove in Fanaselle with a bunt single and Stirneman scored on a wild pitch from reliever Justin Walker to put UH up 6-1.

UH added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning to make the score 7-1. Pressley, who was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, led off the inning with a single up the middle and stole second. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Lormand. Fanaselle reached on a fielding error by Kanaby in left, which allowed Pressley to score.

Cesario and Kingsbury both walked to load the bases. Cody Williams came on in relief of Brad Depoy to strike out Stirneman and get Tully to line out to first base and end the inning.

Needham (1-1) took the loss for the Cardinals. He allowed four runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings pitched. Shea Hancock (2-0) picked up the win in relief for the Cougars, allowing no runs or hits with one walk and four strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings pitched.

Kanaby went 1-for-3 for Lamar to extend his hitting streak to 20-games, which ranks as the second-longest streak in school history. Chad Bunting holds the school record with a 23-game hitting streak. Ryan Baker, Collin DeLome, David Moore and Hernandez each had one hit as well.

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