NEW ORLEANS – Leading 5-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, bad luck struck against Lamar University (14-28, 6-16 SLC) on Friday. The University of New Orleans (20-22, 6-13 SLC) scored six in their final frame of the game to escape with a 6-5 decision over the Cardinals in the first game of the Southland Conference series.

Starter Noah Sills threw a shutout through seven innings with five hits, one walk, and two strikeouts in the first seven frames. He ended the night with three earned runs allowed on six hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.
 
Lamar's bats were active from the first pitch. Avery George reached on an error and advanced to second on the throw. Cole Girouard singled him to third and Cole Coker earned his 20th RBI of the year by singling home George as an unearned run. The next three Cards went down in order and LU led 1-0 through the first.
 
Girouard and Coker played a role in Big Red scoring another run in the top of the third. The junior Cole duo both singled through the right side. JC Correa pushed Girouard to third on a deep fly to right and a sac fly from Robin Adames scored Girouard. A popup to second ended the Cardinal threat with LU leading 2-0.
 
Big Red's biggest inning came in the fourth. Anthony Quirion earned a base the painful way when he was beaned by a 1-1 pitch in the lead-off position. He came home on a first-pitch triple by Reese Durand, his team-leading fourth triple of the year. A sac fly from George scored Durand and Girouard got his third hit of the day with two outs. Girouard stole second and reached third on an errant throw, and Coker earned his third hit of the day by singling home Girouard. A 5-3 grinder ended the inning with Lamar leading 5-0.
 
Neither team scored over the next three and a half innings though Lamar threatened with base runners in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Double plays cut short the Cardinal offense in the seventh and eighth innings.
 
New Orleans rode a streak of bad Cardinal luck through the bottom of the eighth inning. A lead-off single was nullified by a strikeout, but a walk and a hit-by-pitch ended Sills' night. Another hit-by-pitch brought home the first UNO run of the game and four consecutive walks scored four more runs. A sac fly to right with the bases still loaded scored the sixth run of the inning, which would prove to be the winning run. UNO led 6-5 through eight.
 
Lamar got a one-out single from Coker in the ninth, his fourth hit of the day, but a close call on a fielder's choice in the next at-bat ended LU's rally. New Orleans won 6-5.
 
Game 2 of the series starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday with Jason Blanchard on the mound for the Cardinals.
 
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