BEAUMONT, Texas - Trailing or tied until the final pitch of the game, Lamar University's baseball team (4-3) overcame the odds Saturday night at Vincent-Beck Stadium to score a walk-off win over the Panthers of Prairie View A&M (1-6). The Cards trailed 6-1 heading into the final inning and used five hits and three walks to score six in the ninth, winning the game 7-6.

"We just had some luck finally," said head coach Will Davis. "We had some really hard hit balls and they made great plays throughout the game. Their shortstop, second basemen, and third basemen all played really good defense and we finally found some holes. Earlier in the game [Jorge] Gutierrez had smoked a few into double plays with both traveling at over 100 mph, and it just felt like we couldn't get that big hit as we continued to fight through bad luck. We finally got several big hits in the ninth and got some help with those three walks."
 

Easy choice for tonight's @Favor Play of the Game!! @Lamar_Baseball trailed Prairie View 6-1 in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs. Despite the odds the Cardinals battled back and won the game off of Quirion's walkoff double! #WeAreLU pic.twitter.com/MDgTvX6Izr

— Lamar Cardinals (@LamarAthletics) February 24, 2019

Starter Noah Sills and reliever Douglas Palmer pitched well throughout the game but had bad luck affect the scoreboard as well. Sills had allowed just one hit through the first four and two-thirds innings of the game with two strikeouts, and it appeared that even when the Panthers worked the bases loaded with two outs that he'd get out of the inning with no blemishes. The next Panther at the plate popped one up high into the Golden Triangle sky and thought he was out on the play, but the ball got lost in the sky and none of the three Lamar fielders could find the ball until it landed as a hit, clearing the bases. A liner to center ended the inning but not before Prairie View led 3-0.

Lamar got its first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth when Anthony Quirion wore one with one out. He reached third on a double from Reese Durand and came home on a single by Avery George. Durand was caught trying to steal third in the next at-bat and Logan LeJeune grounded out to third to end the inning with Prairie View leading 3-1.

Sills dominated in his final inning of work, sitting down the Panthers in order with his third and fourth strikeouts of the day, and Lamar managed to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth with a single from Cole Coker and a walk of Jorge Gutierrez and a hit-by-pitch of Chase Kemp with two outs. A popup to third ended that rally and Lamar still trailed 3-1.

Prairie View tacked on three more runs in the seventh when more bad luck struck. With one out a Panther reached on an error and advanced to second on a single through the left side. An intentional walk loaded the bases, and a wild pitch scored one Panther. With two outs LU's night looked over when the Panther at the bat lined one right to an awaiting Robin Adames at third before the ball ricocheted off third base and careened into the outfield, scoring two more. A liner to Palmer on the mound ended the inning but PVAMU led 6-1.

Palmer held steady in the eighth and ninth innings, limiting PVAMU to just one more hit while striking out two, and that gave Lamar the room it needed to work back into the game.

The bottom of the ninth started with an eight-pitch walk of Quirion, and Lamar quickly reached two outs on a liner to right and a fielder's choice from George that struck down Quirion. Then LeJeune broke through the string of bad luck for the Cards when he smoked a line drive to the short stop who bobbled the play. LeJeune reached on the single and advanced to second on a single from Coker that loaded the bases. George came home on a wild pitch and Adames brought LeJeune home on a single to short. A walk of JC Correa loaded the bases again before he was pinch ran for by Cole Girouard, and then Gutierrez drew an RBI walk. Kemp tied the game with a two-RBI single up the middle, and Quirion walked off the Cards with a double to right center to end the game.

"I believe in all our players," said Davis. "Some got off to a slow start, but I'm hopeful that a win like this will get them going."

Lamar is back in action in the finale of the Cardinal Classic at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Grason Wright will take the mound as the Cards face the Chippewas of Central Michigan.