LAKE CHARLES, La. — Trailing 8-6 headed in the ninth inning, the Lamar University Cardinals fought back to tie up the game, sending it into extra innings.

With one swing of the bat on a 2-1 count, McNeese got a walk-off solo home run to left to split the series with a 9-8 victory Saturday afternoon at Joe Miller Ballpark.

The Cardinals scored first in the top of the second when Zane Spinn brought in Zak Skinner on a groundout to short after Skinner led off the inning with a double to right.

McNeese tied up the game at one-all in the bottom half of the second with an RBI double to right center.

Brayden Evans put the Cards ahead 2-1 with a leadoff solo home run to right center in the fourth.

Tab Tracy then extended LU's lead to two runs with an RBI single up the middle in the top of the fifth that brought in Heladio Moreno.

The momentum shifted back to the Cowboys in the bottom of the fifth when they got a three-run home run to take a 4-3 lead.

LU answered back with two solo home runs in the top of the sixth off the bats of Evans and Spinn, which put the Cards ahead 5-4.

Spinn tallied his third RBI when he singled to left in the top of the eighth to extend the lead to 6-4.

On five hits, McNeese scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to take an 8-6 lead.

Logan Hamm had a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth and then Tracy doubled down the right field line to cut the deficit to one run.

As Tracy advanced to third on the play, Damian Ruiz later hit a single up the middle to tie the game at 8-8.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Ruiz extended his on base streak to 20 games as he finished 1 for 5 with a single and an RBI.
• Spinn went 2 for 5 with a single, home run and three RBIs.
• Evans extended his hit streak to eight games by going 2 for 3 with two home runs, two walks and two RBIs.
• Evans now has a team-high nine multi-RBI games while Spinn has six.
• This is the third straight season in which a Cardinal hits two or more home runs against McNeese (Ethan Ruiz, 2 (2023) | River Orsak, 3 (2024) | Evans, 2 (2025)).
• Tracy went 2 for 5 with a single, double and two RBIs to extend his hit streak to six games.
• Moreno extended his hit streak to five games, going 1 for 4 with a single and a walk.
• Skinner was walked twice to go 1 for 3 with a double.
• Carter Sutton started the game, tossing 4.1 innings with three strikeouts.
• Jayden Shertel fanned three batters in 1.2 innings of work while he allowed one hit.

UP NEXT

The series finale is at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 16. The game will be livestreamed on ESPN+.