BEAUMONT, Texas – Coming within inches of either tying with or overtaking the Tigers of Texas Southern (1-2) several times on Sunday, Lamar University (1-2) ultimately fell in the finale of the 2018 Cardinal Classic, 4-3. The long ball played a big factor in the game; six of the seven combined runs came on home runs, including Cole Secrest's three-run homer that tied the game in the third.

"Texas Southern is a team we want to be, a team that went to the NCAA tournament and returned most of their staff," said head coach Will Davis. "When they shrink their staff down to those four or five arms we saw today, combined with all the position players that they had return, they're as good as anyone in our conference. Unfortunately, we didn't come out on the winning side today. I don't think we played poorly at all; we just didn't do enough to win the game."

Lamar and Texas Southern appeared to be evenly matched through the first three innings, with a combined six runners stranded on base and the score knotted at 0-0. Jack Dallas was lightning in a bottle through the first three innings of his debut, striking out four while walking none. TSU's Aaron Solis looked a bit more vulnerable, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out just one through the first three.

"I was definitely a little bit nervous, but I enjoyed the moment," said Dallas when asked how he felt about making his Cardinal debut. "Baseball is fun, but I enjoy pitching. Those nerves just come with the territory of your first start."

The Tigers drew first blood on a solo homer to lead off the fourth inning and tacked on two more on a one-out single and a two-run bomb. Dallas rebounded quickly, striking out the next batter and ending the inning with a lazy fly ball to left. Even so, Texas Southern now held a 3-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the fourth.

"It definitely wasn't my best performance, and I hope it's not the best I do this year," said Dallas. "Texas Southern is definitely a good team, and they countered off my mistakes. That's what a good team will do. Both guys put a great swing on it, and in both situations, I missed my spots. You can't constantly make mistakes against guys like that; they'll capitalize on it and that's exactly what they did."

Lamar showed resiliency in the bottom of the fourth inning, putting together its best offensive inning of the day with three runs of its own. Chase Kemp earned a free base when he was hit by a pitch, and advanced to second on Mike Leal's one-out single to second base. A strike out by Chad McKinney took LU down to its final out, but Secrest was determined to put Lamar on the board. On a 1-2 count he knocked the laces off a ball, driving it 20 feet past the left field fence and into the Vincent-Beck parking lot. After four innings, the score was knotted at 3-3.

Grason Wright relieved Dallas to open the fifth inning, and though he was largely in control, striking out two while allowing just one hit and one run, that proved to be the winning run for Texas Southern. Victor Cruz drew a seven-pitch walk, then advanced to second on a one-out grounder to first. He scored on a single down the right field line on a 2-2 count. Wright struck out OJ Oloruntimilehin to end the threat.

Ryan Erickson (five strikeouts, no walks, no hits, no runs) and Kristjan Storrie (one hit, no walks, no runs) held down the fort for the final three innings, keeping the Cardinals in the game.

Lamar had runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and ninth innings, but Texas Southern's defense held strong in each Cardinal opportunity. The closest Big Red would come to scoring would be in the bottom of the ninth, when Cole Coker drew a walk and advanced to second on a sacrificial bunt by Grant DeVore. The Tigers intentionally walked Robin Adames with one out to put runners on first and second, then got Adames out on a fielder's choice that put Kemp on first and Coker on third. But the Cardinal runners were stranded on the corners when the game ended on a strikeout.

Cardinal fans won't have long to wait to see Lamar in action again with Big Red traveling to Austin on Wednesday to face #21 University of Texas. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Lamar's next home series will come Feb. 23-25 when Hofstra comes to town for a four-game series.