SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Junior Chase Kemp homered twice (13, 14) and classmate Logan LeJeune blasted his first of the season to propel Lamar University to a 13-3 run-rule victory over UIW Saturday afternoon at Sullivan Field in San Antonio. The victory secured a Southland Conference playoff spot for the Cardinals (25-21/17-19 SLC) – the program's first since 2017.
 
Beaumont's version of the Cardinals pounded out 16 hits on the afternoon, with three home runs and four doubles. Eight different Cardinals got hits Saturday led by three-hit efforts from Chase Kemp, Avery George and Anthony Quirion. Kemp went 3-for-5 with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored. George was 3-for-5 with a run scored and Quirion was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
 
Junior Jack Dallas got the start – his first of the season – and the only thing that slowed him down was Mother Nature. Dallas surrendered three runs – all earned – on five hits in four innings pitched. He also struck out four Cardinals with two walks. Unfortunately, he had to be pulled after a nearly an hour-long rain delay in the 5^th. Sophomore Daniel Cole came on to pitch the final three innings with no-hits and three strike outs to preserve the win.
 
Dallas got the victory to improve to 2-2 on the season, while Cole picked up his first save.
 
Carson Rollins (1-5) got the start for the other Cardinals and took the loss after surrendering six runs on six hits in just 2.1 innings.
 
LeJeune got the offensive onslaught started with his blast in the top of the 2^nd. After fouling off a 3-2 pitch to stay alive, LeJeune got all of the next offering from Rollins to give LU an early 3-0 lead.
 
UIW answered back with one in the bottom half of the inning when Ron Brown took a 1-1 pitch over the right field wall, but the good guys would answer. Seeking the knockout punch early, the Cardinals responded with another three-run inning in the third. With one out, the Cardinals got four-straight hits from Kemp, George, Kelby Weyler (a double which plated Kemp) and Quirion (a two-RBI single) to take a 6-1 lead.
 
Big Red's run of consecutive innings with a crooked number on the board continued in the third. The Cardinals added two more in the fourth following Kemp's first home run of the day – to right field. The two-run blast gave the Cardinals a seven-run lead.
 
That would be all the offense LU would need as the pitching staff took care of the rest shutting out UIW the rest of the way, but the game didn't end without nearly an hour long rain delay in the bottom of the fifth. The delay came with runners at second and third and no one out. After the delay, LU head coach Will Davis turned the ball over to Cole who promptly traded runs for outs to get Big Red out of the inning.
 
LU closed out the game by scoring five unanswered runs for the victory.
 
Big Red will enter the Southland Conference Championships as the No. 8 overall seed and will take on top-seed Abilene Christian. The tournament kicks off Wednesday but game times have not yet been set.