April 7, 2013

Box Score

HAMMOND, La. – Three Cardinals collected three or more hits and six knocked in multiple runs as the Lamar baseball team throttled Southeastern Louisiana in 18-1 fashion in seven innings to secure its first Southland Conference series win of the year.

The Lions, who entered the weekend with a peerless 6-0 record in conference play, dropped two out of three on the weekend to fall to 22-11 on the year. Lamar improved to 4-5 in conference and 24-9 overall.

Sam Bumpers led the Lamar barrage with a 4-for-6 showing at the plate with three scores and a pair runs batted in. Both Brad Picha and Darian Johnson had three-hit days with a pair of runs apiece, and Picha also led the team with three RBI. Jude Vidrine and V.J. Bunner were impressive as well, combining to go 4-for-7 with seven scores.

As a team, Lamar out-hit SLU 19-5.

David Carver made the start on the mound for the Cards, going six innings and allowing an unearned run to improve to 5-2 on the season. He gave up all five SLU hits, and Eric Harrington pitched a perfect seventh to close out the series.

A Bumpers lead-off double and Picha single put the Cards ahead in the first, but it was short-lived as the Lions equalized in the second.

However, Lamar bounced back quickly in the ensuing frame, sending 12 hitters to the plate and pushing across eight runs. Johnson was the star of the inning, doubling twice with a pair of RBI, but he was far from the only standout as Vidrine scored twice and Bunner, Picha and Aaron Olivas each doubled.

The Cards scored nine more times over the final four frames as LU enjoyed its highest-scoring performance since a 22-5 win over UT Arlington in 2010.

Lamar will return to action on Tuesday night against Rice. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

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