Box Score April 28, 2010
Final Stats
HOUSTON - The University of Houston pushed across an 11th-inning run Wednesday night to spoil the first four-RBI game of Andy Mena's career, and give the Cougars an 8-7 victory over the Cardinals.
With runners on first and third and the Cardinals employing a rare five-man infield, Caleb Ramsey laid down a bunt single just to the left of the pitcher's mound to force in Ryan Still from third base with the decisive run.
Still began the somewhat bizarre bottom of the 11th with a single, and moments later he sped around to third base as Cardinal shortstop Aaron Buchanan failed to grasp what should've a double-play grounder by Blake Kelso.
The victory ended a five-game losing streak by the 17-23 Cougars, and it avenged last week's 7-6 loss to the Cardinals in Beaumont. Meanwhile, the Cardinals ended their final non-conference game of the with a 26-17 record.
Mena, who had a two-run double in the second inning and a run-scoring single in the fifth, put the Cardinals in position to pull out another win when he drove a run-scoring single into the gap in right-center field to snap a 6-6 tie in the 10th inning.
The Cougars retied the score in the bottom of the 10th, however, and Barry Laird came on to pitch a hitless, scoreless 11th to set up the offense for the win. The victory was Laird's first in as many decisions this season.
The Cardinal built an early 6-1 lead, but they eventually paid the price for shaky pitching and faulty defense. Lamar's nine pitchers combined to issue a whopping 11 bases on balls - including two with the bases loaded, and the Cardinals committed five errors to match their season high.
Tommy Roebuck, who pitched the Cardinals out of a 10th-inning jam, wound up being the hard-luck loser, falling to 0-2 on the season.
Houston's Tanner Shiflett, a sophomore right-hander from Navasota put on the impressive pitching performance of the game. The relieved starter Ty Stuckey and allowed two hits and struck out seven over 5.2 innings. The Cardinals struck out 16 total times, including three by Pablo Salinas.
A two-out fielding error by first baseman Ryan Meade enabled Houston to score an unearned run in the first inning, but the Cardinals answered with a three-run second.
Kevin Roebuck got the rally started with a leadoff walk, and he promptly stole second base. He came around to score on a flyout and an errant throw by pitcher Ty Stuckey on a pickoff attempt at first base. Later in the inning, Mena powered a double into left centerfield to drive in Ted Zentek, who had singled, and Aaron Buchanan, who was hit by a pitch. It put the Cardinals up 3-1.
After being hit by Stuckey for the second time on the night, Buchanan came around to score the Cardinals' fourth run on a two-out single into the right-field corner by Cameron Campbell.
The Cardinals upped their lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Buchanan and a run-scoring single into right field by Mena. The Cougars cut their deficit to 6-4 in their half of the fifth on a single and stolen base by Kelso, an RBI single by Chase Dempsay and a pair of bases-loaded walks, both issued by Jonathan Dziedzic, the fourth of nine pitchers employed by Cardinal coach Jim Gilligan on the night.
LAMAR
