NEW ORLEANS – A slugfest narrowly went against Lamar University (7-9) on Tuesday in the first of two games at Tulane University (14-2). The Cardinals outhit the Green Wave 17-13, but Tulane outscored LU 14-12.
 
The offense started quickly with Lamar dropping five runs on the Tulane starter, who previously had a 0.00 ERA and just four hits allowed in 12.0 innings. Avery George led off with a single to center and stole second, then Cole Girouard doubled him home. A bunt single by Reese Durand put Girouard on third, and after Durand stole second, a single up the middle by Anthony Quirion scored both Cards. Chase Kemp took two pitches before finding the one he liked, smashing the laces off a ball that kept going and going until it shattered a car windshield in the right field parking lot. Kelby Weyler singled to right, but he was cut down on a double play and a strikeout ended the inning. Heading into the bottom of the first, Lamar led 5-0.
 
The bottom half of the first took half an hour. Tulane doubled four times in the first, part of a six-hit, six-run inning. A 6-3 grounder, a popup to right, and a strikeout ended the inning, but not before Tulane took a 6-5 lead.
 
Lamar jumped back in front in the top of the second. Rhett McCall led off with a single and reached second on a single by Girouard, and Durand bunt singled to load the bases. A double down the right field line by Quirion cleared the bases, but Quirion was stranded on back-to-back strikeouts. After Douglas Palmer sat'em down in order, the Cards held an 8-6 lead through two innings.
 
It was nothing-doing for either team in the third, but Tulane's top-ranked offense struck again in the fourth. Two singles with one out, a walk, and another single scored two runs for Tulane, tying the game at 8-8 before a 4-3 grounder cut short the inning. After four innings, the game was tied 8-8.
 
After both teams were held scoreless through the fifth, Lamar scored one in the sixth. A one-out single by Jose Cintron reached second when the freshman infielder stole, and George joined him on base on a hit-by-pitch. A single up the middle by Girouard scored Cintron, and though LU put two runners in scoring position on a wild pitch, the pair were stranded on a 4-3 grounder that Durand almost ran into a hit. Tulane responded with two runs in the bottom half. A lead-off single reached second on another single, and with one out a screamer down the right line landed just fair, turning into a two RBI triple. A strikeout and a 4-3 grounder ended the sixth, but not before Tulane led 10-9.
 
The Cards went down in order in the seventh, and a lead-off walk to open the second half of the frame came back to haunt LU later on. With two outs a homer to left center put Tulane up by three before Buckendorff could strike out the final batter. Through seven, Tulane led 12-9.
 
Matthew McDonald tried to get LU back in the game in the eighth. The junior from Phoenix, Ariz., came two feet short of a 400-foot homer, doubling to center field. Cintron singled him home to pull LU within two, and George singled with one out to put Cintron 90 feet from home. George stole second before a tough swinging strikeout, and a grounder to the pitcher ended the inning with the tying run on second. Five walks scored two more for Tulane in the bottom of the inning, and through eight Tulane led 14-10.
 
Big Red wasn't quite done fighting in final inning. Weyler drew an eight pitch walk with two outs and stole second, then McDonald singled him home. McDonald stole second and reached third on a wild pitch, and on a 2-2 count Cintron doubled McDonald across the plate. The game-tying run came to the plate, but LU couldn't quite convert. Tulane held on to win 14-12 in three hours and 49 minutes.
 
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