March 12, 2010

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - After scoring the first run of the game, Lamar allowed eight unanswered and committed a season-high five errors which contributed to a 9-2 loss to Nicholls in the Southland Conference opener for both teams at Ray Didier Field Friday night.

Lamar (11-3, 0-1 SLC) saw Aaron Buchanan, Quentin Luquette and Joey Latulippe extend their respective hitting streaks to eight, seven and six games, in addition to 3.2 innings of strong relief from right-hander Miller Aldrich. The junior from College Station struck out six and allowed just one run while scattering six hits.

The Cardinals struck first in the second when Latulippe scored from third on Tyler Theriot's two-out double down the left field line.

But Nicholls came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning, followed by three in the third and two more in the fourth to claim a 8-1 lead. Lamar had three errors in the second and third innings which led the three unearned runs.

Lamar scored its second run of the game in the fifth when Anthony Moore led off with a walk, moved to second on a hit batter, reached third on a wild pitch and crossed home on a Luquette singe through the right side.

Nicholls added an unearned run in the eighth to extend its win streak to 12 games.

Pablo Salinas and V.J. Bunner also had base hits for the Cardinals on Friday.

Matison Smith (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he allowed eight runs - three unearned - in just four innings. Jarret Dunnam (1-0) struck out six and allowed five hits in six innings before yielding to Cullen Babin who collected his first save of the season with a one-hit, three-strikeout performance in three innings.

Nicholls (10-3, 1-0) had six players with two hits apiece as the squad finished with 14 total. They had three extra-base hits compared to two for the Cardinals.

The teams will play the second game of their weekend series on Saturday at 3 p.m.