BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University held off a pair of late seventh-inning rallies from UIW to sweep the doubleheader, 3-2 and 4-3. Big Red has moved to within a game of second place behind UIW and Nicholls.
 
LU (28-20, 14-9 SLC) took game one thanks to Reagan Smith's 10^th complete game of the season. Smith allowed two runs on 10 hits, stranded 11 UIW runners, and struck out a pair. Isabella Flores (RBI), Cimara-lei Wessling (RBI) and Sicily Windham recorded a hit in the game. 
 
Big Red overcame a two-run deficit and clinched the series with its second one-run win of the day. Isabella Flores, Ariel Flores (two RBI) and Wessling collected two hits. Ava Prejean pitched 5.1 scoreless innings of relief and allowed one hit while conceding 11 flyouts and three groundouts.
 
Game 1: LU 3, UIW 2
 
Flores and Wessling gave LU a 2-0 lead after the first. UIW answered with a solo homer in the second, but stranded eight runners over the next three innings while Big Red was held without a hit. 
 
After Makenzie Wright was hit by a pitch and Windham singled to start the fifth, LU added a big insurance run as Gracee Hess hit a sacrifice fly to right to score pinch runner Kamaryn Radford. UIW closed to within a run in the sixth and then put runners at the corners in the seventh before a groundout to Windham secured the final out for the win. 
 
 
Game 2: LU 4, UIW 3
 
LU once again scored in the first inning as Ariel Flores singled in Hess from second. UIW grabbed its first lead of the series with a second-inning three-run blast. Big Red answered back with Flores' second RBI of the game in the bottom of the third. Then, Wessling led off the fourth with a game-tying solo homer.
 
After a scoreless fifth, the hometown Cards went up in the sixth when Hess singled to center and Windham came in to score on an error. Prejean recorded the first two outs of the seventh, but UIW was given another chance to deliver the big hit by loading the bases. Once again, defense sealed off the victory as right fielder Kinlee McGuire snagged UIW's last chance to steal a game.
 
Big Red will look to honor four seniors for Senior Day Saturday with a chance to sweep UIW. The first pitch will take place at noon and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.