Final Stats

THIBODAUX, La. - Big innings have been the Achilles heel for the Lamar baseball team in 2015, but on Wednesday it was the one run in the fourth inning that bit the Cardinals in a 1-0 loss to Nicholls at Didier Field in non-conference action.

The Lamar (7-12) pitching staff pitched a whale of a game, but starter Jayson McKinley allowed back-to-back hits in the fourth that netted Nicholls (11-7-1) the lone run of the game. With one out, Marc Frazier singled up the middle, and scored when Kyle Reese doubled into left center with two strikes on him.

Prior to that inning, McKinley (0-1) only allowed two hits, and both were stranded to first base. Justin Holt led off the game with a single to left field, but he was rolled up in a double play two batters later. In the third frame, Joey Morales reached on a grounder to second base with two strikes and two outs, but he was stranded in the next at-bat.

McKinley finished the fourth inning before he was pulled, and allowed five hits and no walks with a strikeout in his outing. Galen Andrews pitched 1.2 frames and allowed only one hit and struck out four. Joe Farley went the same length and punched out two. Ryan Cawthon finished the contest (two-thirds) and was perfect.

It was only McKinley's second appearance of the year, and he dropped his earned run average from a 9.00, on the outset of the contest, to a 3.60.

The Cardinals put men in scoring position four times. In the first inning, Joe Arechiga reached on a walk and took second on Kevin Santana's single through the left side. Colonel starter Ryan Deemes forced Reed Seeley into a fielder's choice to avoid any damage.

Designated hitter CJ Moore reached third base in the second inning after he led off the inning with a single up the middle. With one out, he stole second and advanced to third after the throw down rolled into the outfield. Deemes got out of that jam with a strikeout and groundout.

Santana reached third with two outs in the fourth, but a rocket liner to the centerfielder bailed out Nicholls. The Cardinals tried to put something together with back-to-back, two-out singles in the seventh, but Deemes' last out was a strikeout to end the threat.

Deemes (3-0) allowed six hits and three walks with three strikeouts, Nicholls' top two relievers entered to close the game. Robbie Petty struck out three in his frame, and Stuart Holmes (7) struck out two in his perfect inning.

Lamar pitching allowed runners to reach base in five innings, but other than the run-scoring fourth frame only one Colonel reached scoring positon.

Santana finished the game with two hits in four tries, and Stijn van der Meer, Seeley, Moore and Justin Eckols all contributed hits. It was Big Red's seventh straight loss.

The same two teams will go at it on Wednesday at 3 o'clock, again in non-conference action. The Cards will continue their Louisiana road trip on Friday when they open up a three-game Southland Conference series at New Orleans.

Cody Laird is expected to make his first appearance of the season on Wednesday, and he will be opposed by Alex Ernestine (1-1).