Box Score Feb. 24, 2012
Final Stats
BEAUMONT - David Harris led off Lamar's half of the first inning with a towering home run to straight away centerfield Friday afternoon at Vincent-Beck Stadium. It turned out to be all the scoring the Cardinals would muster in a 6-1 loss non-conference baseball loss to visiting Gonzaga on the first day of the YMBL Cardinal Classic.
The Cardinals, who fell to 2-1 on the young season, will host Illinois on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. before a rematch with the Bulldogs at 6 p.m. Senior right hander Shane Hamaker is scheduled to get the start against the Fighting Illini, while junior lefty Jonathan Dziedzic will open against Gonzaga (5-0).
Harris, a junior from Houston, took a 1-0 pitch from Gonzaga starter Billy Moon and blasted it over the wall to put the Cardinals on top 1-0. The next three Lamar batters would go in order as Moon took control of the game.
"That was a really good ball game," said LU head coach Jim Gilligan who was denied his 1,200th coaching victory while wearing a Cardinal uniform. "That left-hander did a great job of pitching. He carved us up. He made a lot of good pitches down in the zone and our hitters didn't adjust to what he was doing."
The Bulldogs would strike back in the top of the third inning as a three-run home run from centerfielder Royce Bolinger proved to be the game winner. LU starter Eric Harrington got the first two batters in the inning out before running into trouble.
Steven Halcomb singled to right field and Clayton Eslick followed with a single to center that sent Halcomb to third. Bolinger then took the second offering from Harrington over the left field fence to give GU a 3-1 lead.
Gonzaga added a run in the seventh after Brock Slavin led off with a double. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Eric Lane and came home on a nice squeeze play bunt by Halcomb.
The Bulldogs posted a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth to chase Harrington from the game. The redshirt senior would fall to 0-1 on the year after working 8 1/3 innings and allowing six earned runs on 12 hits.
"Harrington really had a good outing," said Gilligan. "The first four runs were you know, they get a two out check swing to right field and then he made a bad pitch for the three-run homer. That was the big part of the game. I was pleased with the way he threw." Moon would earn the victory for Gonzaga, scattering six hits over eight innings while just allowing the leadoff home run. He added seven strikeouts and no walks before Derek Paterson worked a scoreless ninth inning.
LU first baseman Seth Dornak finished with two of the Cardinals' eight hits. Sophomore Jude Vidrine came in as a pinch hitter in the fifth and doubled in his first at bat for the Cardinals.
Bolinger finished with three hits and three runs batted in for Gonzaga. Eslick added three hits, while Slavin had a pair of hits and two runs scored.
Gonzaga hammered out 20 hits in cruising to a 13-3 victory over Illinois in Friday's tournament opener. Lane enjoyed a very productive game, going 5-for-6 and driving in two runs.
Sophomore left-hander Marco Gonzales pitched the first eight innings, allowing six hits and one run while striking out seven batters in earning his first victory of the season. Illinois did not score until the seventh inning, and by then the Fighting Illini were down 5-0. They put it away in their half of the inning by scoring four runs, and they added four more in the eighth inning.
Illinois and Gonzaga will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday morning in the first game of the day.
LAMAR
