March 13, 2011

Box Score

BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar University's baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Nicholls on the opening weekend of Southland Conference play as Jonathan Dziedzic's solid pitching inspired a 3-0 victory over Nicholls on Sunday afternoon.

Dziedzic, a sophomore left-hander from Humble Astacocita, blanked the Colonels on six hits through eight innings. He struck out a season-high nine batters and walked two in earning his first victory in two decisions.

Jeff Abt moved from his designated hitter spot to pitch a hitless ninth inning and pick up his first Division I save.

"Jonathan had the most groundout outs he's ever had since he's been pitching for us, and that was good to see," said Jim Gilligan, Lamar's head coach. "He has normally been a strikeout and flyball-out type of pitcher. He also kept his walks down, and that was nice.

"He wanted to go back out for the ninth inning and shoot for a complete game, but his pitch count was up pretty high (122 to be exact with 80 of them going for strikes). The pitching performances of Jonathan and Blake Ford would have to be considered the highlights of this opening series, but we also got the hits when we needed them and moved runners around the bases."

In winning for the sixth time in seven games and improving to 12-6 on the season, the Cardinals put together seven hits with catcher Joey Latulippe leading the way. The 6-foot, 190-pound senior from League City extended his hitting streak to eight games by going 3-for-4 and picking up his 11th run batted in of the season.

Third baseman Pablo Salinas, who enjoyed a 4-for-5 day in Saturday's 9-4 victory over the Colonels, continued his recent resurgence with a 2-for-3 outing that included a double down the right-field line in the second inning and an RBI single down the left-field line in the fourth.

"Our coming out and putting up two runs in the first inning was huge in this ballpark (Vincent-Beck Stadium)," said Gilligan. "With the conditions (a stiff wind blowing in from center field) being the way they were today, it makes it tough for a team to overcome even a two-run lead."

The Cardinals will take a break from conference play on Wednesday when they host Texas-Pan American in a 2 p.m. doubleheader. Their next SLC series will be at Central Arkansas Friday through Sunday.

LAMAR