BEAUMONT, Texas - Three unearned runs on two errors were the difference Saturday between Lamar University (6-8, 0-2 SLC) and Stephen F. Austin (7-8, 2-0 SLC). The Cardinals and Lumberjacks each had eight hits but SFA had no errors to LU's two in a 4-2 victory for the Lumberjacks.

"I think individuals need to step up," said head coach Will Davis. "With every individual that steps up the team gets much better. Baseball is a very individualized sport in that everybody gets their turn to hit and you need individual efforts to make a good collective group performance. We just need more of that. We've got a few guys stepping up now but we need more hitting throughout the lineup and we need to make those big plays in crucial situations. The pitching is going to give us a chance to win, but we need to score more runs and have better at-bats. If it needed to be a 2-1 game today we should have made it a 2-1 game, and we didn't execute when that presented itself."

SFA struck early in the game once again, pushing two across in the second inning. A one-out hit-by-pitch reached second on a single to second, then a passed ball advanced both runners. An error brought both Lumberjacks home to make the score 2-0 in favor of SFA. A one-out double, a grounder to short that placed the runner on third, and a single scored one more run for SFA in the third, the only earned run of the game for the 'Jacks, giving SFA a 3-0 lead.

Lamar's bats began to respond in the bottom of the third. Cole Secrest singled up the middle with one out in the third and reached second on a single from Avery George, preserving George's 13-game hit streak and 24-game reached base streak. Both were stranded on a 4-3 grounder.

LU's pitching faced the minimum in the fourth and fifth thank to some stellar work by Noah Sills and a great lineout double play from JC Correa, and the Cards turned that defense into offense in the bottom of the fifth. Logan LeJeune doubled down the left line to lead off the inning and was brought home by a one-out single from Rhett McCall that turned into a double on the throw home. A passed ball during George's at-bat put McCall just 90 feet away and George brought him home with an RBI grounder to third. After five Lamar trailed by just one run, 3-2.

A lead-off single in the top of the sixth was pushed to second on a one-out hit-by-pitch, and a botched fielder's choice with an errant throw to first allowed a run to score, putting SFA back up by two, 4-2, with just one earned run in the game. Lamar would collect hits in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings but struggled to get anyone past first base. The best chance came in the bottom of the seventh when Reese Durand drew a walk with one out. He was advanced to second by a McCall single and both advanced on a balk, but neither could come home as the Cards popped up and struck out to end the inning. SFA won the game 4-2.

The series finale between Lamar and Stephen F. Austin is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. Taylor Rich will take the mound for Big Red against an as-of-yet unannounced starter for SFA.

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