NATCHITOCHES, La. – The pitching staff threw eight innings of scoreless baseball and the offense tacked on three runs on nine hits Tuesday to lead Lamar University (11-26) to a 3-2 win at Northwestern State (19-16) in the finale of the three-game, non-conference series between the Cards and Demons.
"I thought all five guys threw really well tonight," said head coach
Will Davis. "It's a shame that
AbeRee Hiebert got hurt because that's the best he's thrown all year, and unfortunately it looks like it might be a long-term thing. It was a great pitching performance and the guys really stepped up. We had enough clutch at-bats, Avery's in the second and Chad's in the ninth, to win. Overall it was a pretty good team effort."
Lamar got a little help drawing first blood in the second inning with Demon starter Robert Burke walking
Cole Secrest and
Grant DeVore back-to-back with one out.
Avery George took three pitches before finding the one he wanted, smacking a line drive past the pitcher to score Secrest and put DeVore on second. A walk of
Rhett McCall in the next at-bat loaded the bases, and
Philip Ingram hit into a fielder's choice to bring DeVore home. A foul out ended the half inning with Lamar leading 2-0.
Bad luck cost the Cardinals further scoring several times. In the third
Robin Adames hit deep into left field in what should have been a double that became a single when he slipped on first base.
Cole Coker wore one to push Adames to second before
Logan LeJeune hit into a double play that struck down Coker and placed Adames on third. A flyout stranded the junior from The Bronx, N.Y., at third.
In the fifth Lamar again got a runner on third.
Cole Girouard raced his way to an infield single with one out, and Adames pushed him to third on a single through the left side. A strikeout gave the Demons a second out, and a throw home just barely beat Girouard home in a 2-4-2 caught stealing.
Marcus Olivarez got a double play and a flyout to keep Northwestern State off the board, and through five Lamar led 2-0.
It was Secrest's turn to reach third in the sixth. With one out the freshman from The Woodlands, Texas, singled over the head of the Demon first baseman, and a single from DeVore put runners on first and second. A fielder's choice from George put runners on the corners, and McCall put some heat on the second pitch he saw but lined it straight to an awaiting Demon second baseman.
Northwestern State struck back in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs Luke Watson drew a five-pitch walk, and a single from J.P. Lagreco ended with Lagreco on second and Watson safe at home after a fielding error. A single through the left side by Tyler Smith scored Lagreco to even the score at 2-2 before
AbeRee Hiebert got a lineout to short to end the inning.
Girouard again reached third in the seventh. The sophomore singled to left field, reached second on a wild pitch, and advanced to third on a 6-3 grounder from Adames. Coker was just barely beat to first by the throw on a 1-3 grounder. Hiebert and
Jace Campbell combined to keep Northwestern State off the board in the bottom of the inning, and after seven the game remained tied 2-2.
Neither team scored in the eighth as Campbell stranded two Demons on base, and Lamar retook the lead in the top of the ninth.
Chad McKinney led off with a double over the left fielder's glove, and a single up the middle from Ingram put runners on the corners. A sac fly from Girouard scored McKinney to give Lamar a 3-2 lead. The Cards loaded up the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended the threat.
Campbell struck out the first batter he faced, walked the second before a 2-4 caught stealing struck him down, and had the final batter he faced on a 2-2 count before a single up the middle brought
Taylor Rich in to replace him. Rich struck out the lone Demon he faced to earn his first save and give Campbell his first win of the year.
The Cards will take their four-game win streak back home to Vincent-Beck Stadium this weekend when they host Abilene Christian for a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m.
