BEAUMONT, Texas - Trevin Michael went the distance Friday, carrying Lamar University baseball (4-5) to an 8-3 win over the University of Akron (0-6). The Cardinals trailed 1-0 after the first but used a patient approach at the plate to outscore the Zips 8-2 after the first inning.

"Trevin was really good and set the tone tonight," said head coach Will Davis. "The fact that he was able to throw a complete game in just 96 pitches was almost unbelievable. Our goal coming into the game tonight was to keep him somewhere between 95-100 pitches and then pull him, and he worked through a whole game with that restriction."

Almost all of Akron's production came from their second baseman, Bradley Goulet, who finished the evening a home run short of the cycle. Goulet led off the game with a triple that careened off the left center fence, then came home on a sac fly from the two hole hitter. Michael got a quick popup to center and a grounder to keep Akron from scoring any more, and after LU went down in order in the bottom half of the frame, Akron led 1-0 after one.

Michael earned his first strikeout of the night in the top of the second, pulling the string on the Zips batter on a 1-2 count. A grounder to short and a grounder to third made quick work of the inning, and Lamar struck back in its half of the second. Consecutive walks of JC Correa and Chase Kemp led to a no-out single by Anthony Quirion through the left side that brought Correa home and put Kemp in scoring position, and a sac bunt by Kelby Weyler advanced both Cardinals on base. Cole Coker got his first RBI of the season on a sac fly center field that brought Kemp home, and a strikeout ended the second with Lamar leading 2-1.

Neither team did much offensively for the next two and a half innings as a Michael sat down nine Zips in a row following a lead-off error, but LU jumped ahead in a big way in the bottom of the fifth. A lead-off walk of Coker reached third on Rhett McCall's single to right field, and Avery George kept his hit streak alive with a single to short that brought Coker home. A wild pitch pushed both runners 90 feet, and Cole Girouard joined George and McCall on the base paths with a single to third. The Zips chose to relieve starter Taed Heydinger before Reese Durand's at-bat, and then Durand greeted the reliever with a dinger of his own to right field, scoring four for Big Red. Durand's grand slam is his third career homer, the third of the season for Lamar, and the first home run by the Cards at Vincent-Beck Stadium in 2020. Kemp got on base with another walk, but he was stranded on a grounder and two popups. After five, Lamar led 7-3.

Akron got its final two runs of the game in the top of the sixth. A lead-off walk reached third on a double by Goulet, and a grounder to first scored the runner at third. Another RBI grounder scored Goulet, and a strikeout ended the frame. LU went down in order, and after six Lamar led 7-3.

After Michael mowed down three more Zips, the fans stood and stretched as Girouard walked up to the plate. The senior worked his way to an eight-pitch walk, then reached second on a sac bunt from Durand. A wild pitch advanced Girouard another 90 feet, and a sac fly from Correa brought the senior from Groves, Texas, home safe. After a strikeout Lamar led by five, 8-3, through seven innings.

Michael held strong through the final six outs, and Lamar defeated Akron 8-3 in the first game of the series.

"I always want our team to focus on battling through at-bats and not chasing hits, and it's really hard to get that when you don't have veteran players," said Davis. "Now we have these veteran leaders on the team. Most guys when they see that batting average on the scoreboard and they have bad luck like some of our guys have had, they start going out of the strike zone and then it makes thing worse. Instead Cole Girouard, Anthony Quirion, Cole Coker, and the rest of our guys that don't have good averages right now haven't changed their demeanor or their approach, and that sets you up for a night like tonight when the other team gives you something."

First pitch for the second game of the series is set for 2 p.m. Saturday with RHP Zach Bravo (0-0, 4.32 ERA) facing off against RHP Quinton Kujawa (0-1, 2.19 ERA).