April 29, 2014

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO - Both Sam Bumpers and Jude Vidrine went 2-for-4 on Tuesday night, but the rest of the Lamar baseball line-up was held to three as the Cardinals dropped a 4-2 decision to former Southland foe UTSA at Roadrunner Field.

For much of the early goings, the game was very much a pitching duel as LU starter Will Hibbs squared off with adversary Boone Mokry. Hibbs, a towering 6-foot-7 right-hander, held the Roadrunners to three hits over four innings of work, striking out three in the process, but Mokry was better, going five frames and surrendering just two hits.

UTSA finally broke the deadlock off of Danny Fernandez in the fifth. Singles from John Welborn, R.J. Perucki and Mike Warren brought the first run across and a Kevin Santana fielding error on the play allowed a second to touch home. Jayson McKinley came on in relief and induced a groundball double play to get out of the frame.

Jacoby Middleton struck back in the ensuing inning with a one-out two-run single to bring the game level. The Grand Prairie native went on to finish the day 1-for-4.

A Reed Seeley fielding error and Welborn double gave the lead back to the hosts out of Conference USA, and Warren belted an inside-the-park solo home run in the following inning to double the advantage.

McKinley was pegged with the loss, his third of the season in four decisions.

LU dropped to 26-18 on the year, and UTSA improved to 28-17. Bumpers, a senior out of Bourbonnais, Ill., extended his school-record consecutive games with a hit streak out to 28 games, and he'll be looking to keep it going on Wednesday as the Cards and Roadrunners will square off once more at 1 p.m.

#PeckEm