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Cardinals hold on to sweep Tarleton State

Lamar baseball picks up its second consecutive series sweep.

BEAUMONT, Texas — Lamar University closed out the 2022 regular season in style winning their final seven games, which included a series sweep over Tarleton State. The Cardinals (36-19/19-10 WAC) recorded a 5-4 victory Saturday afternoon to put the final touches on the season-ending sweep.

 

The win secured LU’s 36th win of the season, the most wins for Big Red since 2013.

 

The Cardinals scored their five runs on 10 hits with one error in the game. Tarleton State finished the game with four runs on 10 hits.

 

Seven different Cardinals recorded a hit Saturday led by multi-hit efforts from Kevin Bermudez (2-for-4, 1 RBI and 1 run), Chase Kemp (2-for-4, 1 RBI and 1 run) and Josh Blankenship (2-for-4).

 

Joe Buckendorff got the start and went 3.1 innings allowing just one earned run (in the first inning) on two hits with five strikeouts. Buckendorff gave way to Ellis in the fourth inning who went 3.0 innings allowing just one unearned run on three hits with six strikeouts. Ellis got the victory to improve to 2-1, while senior Jack Dallas came on to pitch a scoreless 9th for his single-season record 13th save.

 

After Tarleton took an early one-run lead in the first inning, the Cardinals answered back with three runs in the fourth to take their first lead of the game. The big hit in the inning was a Matthew McDonald no-doubter to left field for his sixth home run of the season and his 39th, 40th and 41st runs driven in on the year.

 

The Cardinals were back on the attack in the fifth when they scored two runs on three hits. Kirkland Banks led off the inning with a single followed by an Ethan Ruiz walk. With two on and no out, Bermudez took the second pitch he saw right back up the middle to score Banks. Kemp followed suit with a double to right field moments later plating Ruiz.

 

The Cardinals held the four-run lead going into the seventh inning with TSU tacked on a run. The Texans made things interesting in the top half of the eighth. With two runs already in, and the bases loaded, Tarleton’s Dylan Choy Foo smoked a ball down the third base line that was snagged on a dive by Ruiz to bring a heart-stopping end to the inning. As it turns out, that would be best and final opportunity for Tarleton to tie things up as Dallas came on in the 9th to close the door.

 

With the victory the Cardinals officially locked up the No. 2 seed in the WAC’s Southwest Division but are still waiting on the outcome of the Abilene Christian at Sam Houston game to see if LU can claim the top seed. That game was tied in the ninth inning at press time. If SHSU loses that game the Cardinals would claim the division’s top seed and open WAC tournament play Wednesday at noon against New Mexico State. Should the Cardinals enter the tournament as the two seed they would play Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Seattle.

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