Sophomore second baseman Zack Dickson
Lamar 2 at Central Arkansas 10
Central Arkansas scored 10 unanswered runs and Lamar failed to get the timely hits as the Cardinals fell to the Bears, 10-2, at Bear Stadium in the opening game of a three-game Southland Conference series Friday.
Lamar (13-4, 2-2) had just eight hits and left 12 runners on base, including nine in scoring position. Brian Taylor led the Cardinals offesnively with a 3-for-5 day which included two doubles and a run scored.
LU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, getting two of their eight hits in the frame, including Brent Harris’ RBI single to right field.
UCA (10-4, 4-0) jumped on starter Ricky Testa with six runs in the second – all with two outs – and two more in the third to extend its lead to 8-1.
In the second, UCA put together five hits and took advantage of a Lamar error. Zack Dickson had a two-run single to center and Jonathan Yerby added another two-run single up the middle. Bobby Pritchett hit a triple for another run and Tye Throneberry came in on a balk by Testa.
Will Wagner hit his first home run of the season in the third inning and Dickson added an RBI groundout for the 8-1 lead. UCA plated two more in the seventh on an RBI single by Eric Tennyson and a wild pitch that allowed Casey Cooper to score.
Bear starter Jeremy Cloudhad held the Cardinals scoreless for seven innings following the first before Lamar scored its final run in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Chris Dunkin.
Cloud (3-0) struck out five and walked four in the complete-game victory. Testa (1-1) took the loss, allowing nine earned runs and striking out eight. Matt Gore came on in relief of Testa with two out in the seventh and collected all four of his outs via strikeout.
The teams will play game two of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Lamar Recap
Central Arkansas Recap
McNeese State 6 at Southeastern Louisiana 9
Senior shortstop Ty Summerlin went 3-for-5 with a third inning double to set a new school hits record, junior right hander Ryan Boudreaux struck out eight over 6.2 IP and senior outfielders Brandon Street and Brian McCants each drove in two runs as the Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team (8-6, 2-2 Southland Conference) rallied for a 9-6 win over McNeese State (9-5, 2-2 Southland Conference) on Friday night at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field.
“Right now, they’re the best offensive team in the conference, and I’m really happy with how we pitched and played defense against them,” head coach Jay Artigues said. “Every time they scored, our hitters responded and kept us in the game, and we were able to come up with the plays we needed to get out of trouble.”
The Lions got on the board first as RBI singles from McCants and sophomore catcher Josh Cryer staked Boudreaux to a 2-0 lead after the opening frame.
However, after a scoreless second, McNeese responded with a three run third. A solo home run by Matt Fontenot and a two run shot by Steven Irvine made it 3-2 Cowboys after two and a half.
Sam Houston State at Texas State Postponed
Stephen F. Austin at Northwestern State Postponed
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3 at Nicholls State 13
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1 at Nicholls State 5
COLONELS TAKE BOTH GAMES OVER ISLANDERS ON FRIDAY
Nicholls won both games of Friday’s doubleheader, defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 13-3 in the first contest and 5-1 in the second. The series finale is set for tomorrow at 6 p.m.
“I was very pleased with our pitching staff today. Our starters set the tone early on, and our defense feed off of that,” said head coach Chip Durham.
“We got some timely hits at key moments, and we played as a team today. I’m very proud of the team for playing the way they did today.”
The Colonels pitching staff combined for 12 strikeouts between the two games, while only allowing three runs and three walks. All three walks came in the second game.
In the first game, Nicholls was awarded the victory in the bottom of the eighth when the Colonels scored their 13th run of the game, giving them a 10-run advantage – 13-3 – that forced the umpires to call the game.
Nicholls State Recap
Texas A&M CC Recap
