April 29, 2009
Box Score
Quentin Luquette went 5-for-5 with three RBI and three runs to lead Lamar past ULM, 12-7, at Vincent-Beck Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
Luquette became the first Cardinal in two years to have a five-hit game, matching the feat that has been done just 17 times prior. The school record of six hits in a game has only been done once, coming 1975 off the bat of Bobby Bradshaw.
In the last six games, Luquette leads the team in batting avg. (.632), slugging pct. (.789) and on-base pct. (.682). He also has a season-high six-game hitting streak.
Early on it didn't look like Luquette's bat would be enough as ULM jumped out to a first inning lead and extended the margin to 5-1 after 3 ½ innings.
But the Lamar bats came alive in the bottom of the fourth and touched-up ULM starter Danial McHenry for seven runs on five hits, with the five being unearned after a one-out fielding error helped prolong the inning. The seven runs are the third most this season behind a pair of eight-run frames in late Feb. and March contests.
The Warhawks (25-20) got one run in the sixth to cut the Cardinal lead to 8-6 before a two-run single by Luquette capped off a three-run rally to stretch the lead back to a comfortable 9-6 margin.
Lamar (30-17) closed out the midweek portion of its 2009 season with a 9-6 record. The Cardinals have now won six-consecutive games, their longest stretch since opening the season with nine-in-a-row.
Brian Needham (3-3) earned the win after throwing two innings of one-hit, one-run ball. McHenry (0-1) took the loss as he lasted 3.2 innings and allowed eight runs on eight hits.
Brian Taylor continued to swing a hot bat for Lamar as he went 3-for-5 to raise his average to a team-high .370. In the last month - covering 20 games - he has hit .443 with 24 RBI and raised his average .056 points.
Lamar will close out its six-game homestand on Friday night when it plays host to arch-rival McNeese State. First pitch at Vincent-Beck Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.
The teams will play games two and three of their Southland Conference series at Cowboy Diamond in Lake Charles, La., Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
