HAMMOND, La. – Lamar University senior River Orsak belted three home runs (15,16,17) Friday evening – his third, fourth and fifth homers of the doubleheader – to lead Lamar University to an 18-9 victory over rival McNeese at Pat Kenelly Diamond in Hammond, La. Orsak tied an SLC tournament record with three home runs in one game.
 
The win came on the heels of an 18-6 victory over UIW in the first game of the day as Lamar has survived three consecutive elimination games to advance to Saturday – the final day of the tournament.
 
The Cardinals scored their 18 runs on 16 hits with two errors, while McNeese scored nine runs on nine hits with two errors. Seven different Cardinals recorded hits for LU against the Cowboys led by multi-hit games for Orsak (4-of-4, 3 HRs, 5 RBIs), Brayden Evans (4-for-6, HR, 2 RBIs, 3 runs), Jack Schell (3-for-5, HR, 2 RBIs, 3 runs) and Kanin Dodge (2-for-4, BB, RBI, run).
 
Lamar scored three in the second and third innings, two in the fourth, two in the seventh and eight in the eighth, while McNeese answered with three in the second, two in the third, three in the fourth and one in the seventh.
 
Jackson Cleveland got the start and went 2.2 innings allowing five runs on five hits with two strikeouts. He was one of five Cardinals to take the mound. The win went to Andres Perez (3-1) after pitching 2.0 innings allowing a run on a hit and a walk with three strikeouts.
 
Brock Barthelemy (3-1) took the loss after pitching 2.1 innings allowing two runs on two hits with a strikeout. He was one of seven Cowboys to take the mound Saturday.
 
Just like they did in the first game, Lamar jumped out to an early lead hanging three on the scoreboard in the second inning. After Logan Hamm led off the inning with a walk, Jack Schell laid down a bunt halfway down the third baseline. McNeese pitcher Caleb Strmiska bobbled the ball and then threw it away allowing runners to move up to second and third. Senior Austin Roccaforte brought both runners home on a single to left field, but Roccaforte advanced to second after Cooper Hext allowed the ball to get by him. Roccaforte managed to come home moments later on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Drake Varnado.
 
McNeese answered with three two-out runs but the momentum didn't last long for McNeese as River Orsak led off the top half of the third with a solo shot to right field. It was his third home run of the day and 15^th of the season. Big Red didn't let up as Zak Skinner followed the home run with a nine-pitch walk. Two batters later, Lamar reclaimed its three-run lead with a Jack Schell home run to right center.
 
The two teams began a back and forth run that saw McNeese answer with two in its half of the third only to see Lamar get solo shots from Evans and Orsak to reclaim a three-run lead.
 
Through four innings the line score was even – eight runs, eight hits and two errors for both teams – but after consecutive scoreless innings, Lamar reclaimed the advantage with another Orsak home run to give LU a 10-8 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh inning, but McNeese answered with a solo shot in its half of the inning to pull back within one.
 
Leading by one run heading into the top of the eighth, Lamar broke the game open with eight runs on five hits. The big blow being a Zak Skinner grand slam to straight away center. The eight-run inning knocked the win out of McNeese as they never threated after that.
 
The Cardinals will now await the conclusion of the Nicholls/Southeastern Louisiana game to see what time they return to the diamond. If Nicholls wins, Lamar will play McNeese at 1 p.m. but should Southeastern Louisiana win the Cardinals and Cowboys will take to the field at 9 a.m. The tournament championship will be played a 6 p.m.
 
The remaining games for LU will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.