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Lamar scores three in the 13th to beat HBU

Cardinals host SFA this weekend

HOUSTON — From Lamar Athletics

Tied at 3-3 from the bottom of the fifth until the top of the 13th, Lamar University (6-6) came out on top Tuesday in a four-hour, 13-inning game at Houston Baptist University (4-8). The Cards used four hits and a sac fly in the top of the 13th inning to win 6-3 over the Huskies.

"It started with a great pitching performance," said head coach Will Davis. "A lot of our guys stepped up all day and did great. We played really good defense most of the day with just a couple of miscues, and I thought [Avery] George in right field and [Robin] Adames at third had especially good days. Rhett [McCall] was great behind the plate and caught a couple of guys attempting to steal. We had enough clutch hits to make it through a bit of bad luck, and in the 13th we finally strung together a few at-bats and pulled out the win."

Lamar drew blood out of the gate with one run in the first. Avery George stretched his hit streak to 11 games and his reached base streak to 22 games with a lead-off single and then advanced to second on a single from Cole Coker. JC Correa singled through the left side in the next at-bat to score George and put Big Red out front 1-0. A double play and a strikeout ended the inning.

Though 19 combined hits were recorded in the game, the offense came in bunches with driving 15 mph winds and a wind chill of 38 degrees cooling the bats of both teams. Neither team scored again until the top of the fourth when Lamar pushed two across. Jorge Gutierrez drew a walk with one out and came home on a two-out homer by Anthony Quirion. Logan LeJeune walked after the homer and reached second on a Rhett McCall single but a fielder's choice ended the inning. Jack Dallas faced the minimum in the bottom of the inning to keep LU ahead 3-0.

Three hits, an error, a hit-by-pitch, and a sac bunt scored three for HBU in the bottom of the fifth. The Huskies collected two, one-out singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases and then a single to center brought two Huskies home. An fielding error allowed the runner that had been on first before to reach third and a sac bunt in the next at-bat scored the unearned run. A swinging strikeout by Austin Smith ended the inning with the score tied at 3-3.

16 combined runners were stranded on base over the next seven innings as both pitching staffs went to work. Lamar limited HBU to just two more hits the rest of the game, and the Cardinal offense loaded up the bases twice but couldn't capitalize in either opportunity. It appeared the game could be ended in a tie with the light quickly fading and no artificial lights installed at HBU's Husky Field, but Lamar finally got the inning it needed in the top of the 13th.

McCall doubled on the first pitch he saw to open the 13th and advanced to third on a single by George. With no outs Coker came to the plate with a free bat and crushed a ball into center field in a sacrificial fly. He scored McCall and gave LU the winning run, but the Cards weren't quite done. Correa singled to left field to put George in scoring position and both he and George came home on a one-out double by Robin Adames to right center. The Cards led 6-3 and took the victory in the bottoom of the 13th when AJ Ozorio-Brace sat down the Huskies in order.

Grason Wright opened the game and threw two innings in a scheduled platoon day. Wright, Dallas, Douglas Palmer, Austin Smith, Dylan Johnson, Ryan Erickson, and Ozorio-Brace combined for 13 innings of six-hit baseball with just two earned runs and 12 scoreless innings. The pitching staff struck out seven while walking six and hitting two batters.

George (three hits), Coker, Correa (two hits), Adames (two hits), Cole Secrest, Quirion, LeJeune, and McCall (two hits) each had a hit in the game. Adames, LeJeune, and McCall had one double apiece and Quirion had the two-run homer in the fourth.

Lamar returns to action on Friday at 6 p.m. with the Southland Conference opener. The Cards will host Stephen F. Austin for three games at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

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