BEAUMONT, Texas — Behind a combination of clutch hitting and steady pitching, the Lamar University Cardinals opened Southland Conference play with a 6-2 series‑opening win over the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros Friday night at Vincent‑Beck Stadium.

The victory marked LU's first win over UTRGV since 2023.

After the Vaqueros went down in order to start the game, the Cardinals immediately applied pressure as Beau Durbin reached on an infield single and A.J. Taylor followed with a double to right center.

With runners on the corners, Tab Tracy lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate the game's first run.

UTRGV evened the score in the top of the third on a two‑out RBI single to shallow left from Easton Moomau, but LU responded quickly in the bottom half.

Durbin sparked the inning with a bunt single, Taylor was hit by a pitch, and Tracy added another bunt single to load the bases.

Braden Benton then delivered the go‑ahead RBI single through the left side.

Brayden Evans added a sacrifice fly to center, and Theo Kummer made it a three‑run inning with a first‑pitch RBI single to right.

Evans drove in another run in the fourth, sending a long single to right center to score Benton following his one‑out double.

The Vaqueros trimmed the deficit in the sixth with a pinch‑hit RBI single to left by Andrew Taylor, but Durbin responded once again in the bottom half — this time with an RBI triple to right, pushing LU's lead back to four.

Lamar's pitching staff settled in, retiring nine of the final 10 batters before UTRGV's Austin Stracener collected a pinch‑hit infield single.

When an errant throw skipped past first, Stracener attempted to advance, but Jake Wagoner threw him out to end the game.

RECORDS: LU (6-4, 1-0); UTRGV (3-6, 0-1)

GAME NOTES

• Durbin extended his hitting streak to 10 games going 3 for 5 with two singles, a triple and an RBI.
• Benton finished 2 for 3 with a single, double, walk and an RBI to lengthen his on base streak to 10 games.
• Taylor also extended his hitting streak to 10 games as he went 1 for 3 with a double.
• Kummer tallied two singles to go 2 for 3 with an RBI.
• The pitching staff struck out 11 batters.
• A.J. Kostic improved to 2-0 after striking out four batters and allowing three hits and one earned run in 2.2 innings.
• Ty Dagley and Julius Carpio struck out a combined six batters while not allowing a single run.

UP NEXT

The series continues with Game 2 at 5:05 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28.