BEAUMONT, Texas – On a day that started off very rainy, the Lamar University softball program was able to take care of the field in time and went onto claim the series sweep over Nicholls on Saturday afternoon, 9-4.
 
It was the Cardinals that broke out a high-powered offense to start the game in the first after junior Aaliyah Ruiz got the start in the circle giving up just one hit before three straight outs to end the top of one. The bottom of the first started out with a ground out by the Cards, but sophomore Nicolette Ramirez walked on the next at-bat. Senior Hannah Carpenter got a hold of one and sent it to left field for a single before both her and Ramirez advanced to the next base after a throwing miscue by the Colonels.
 
Junior Kaylee Ancelot tagged the ball perfectly for a single up the middle that allowed Lamar to go up 2-0 with runs from Ramirez and Carpenter. The Cardinals went onto load the bases on a single to second by sophomore Felixia Hinojosa. Sophomore Hannah Kinkade was walked in the next at-bat. A single to third by freshman Reagan Jones capped off a four-run stretch for the Cards as they took a 4-0 lead into a pitching change by Nicholls. Redshirt senior Victoria Garivey played the second pitch of the at-bat to centerfield for a sacrifice fly to bring in Hinojosa to give the Cards a 5-0 lead after one.
 
The next two innings was a pitcher's duel between Ruiz and Alexis LaBure of Nicholls. With a combined just two hits over the second, third and fourth innings. Both teams looked to make some offense going into the final stretch.
 
The Colonel offense found some light in the top of the fifth after getting runners on off back-to-back singles earlier in the inning. Nicholls went onto tally two runs on a double to left field by Holland to cut into the Big Red lead. The bottom of the fifth saw Lamar match the Colonels in run total as an error by the pitcher allowed runners to get into scoring position for the Cardinals. A walk by Kinkade allowed the first Cardinal run to come in, then another sacrifice fly from Garivey brought in Hinojosa to make the score 7-2 LU.
 
Ruiz and the Cardinal defense forced the Colonel offense to go three up, three down to begin the sixth. The Cardinals got one on early in the inning and a hit by pitch on freshman Audry Fleming allowed Carpenter to advance to second, giving the Cards a runner in scoring position. Hinojosa gave Lamar two insurance runs in the sixth on a double down the left field line, scoring Fleming and Carpenter, to give the Cards a 9-2 lead going into the final inning.
 
Lamar needed just three outs to complete the sweep. Ruiz got the first batter early swinging for a strikeout. The next Colonel batter grounded out to third base. Two outs for the Cards, but the Colonels were able to get runners on. Nicholls went onto load the bases with two outs. A single by Reavis allowed one run to score, and then another run came in for the Colonels on a single to third. Ruiz and the Cardinal defense needed just four more pitches to end the contest and got just that when the fourth pitch on the final batter came down in the glove of Fleming.
 
The Cardinals improve to 8-40 (4-20 Southland) on the season. The Big Red were led on the afternoon by Hinojosa who went 4-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Ruiz got the win in the circle for the Cards and improves to 3-8 on the season.
 
UP NEXT: The Cardinals will look to keep the momentum going when they travel to Conway, Arkansas to close out the regular season against Central Arkansas on Friday, May 7^th and Saturday, May 8^th at Farris Field.