Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT – As has been true for a good part of the current win streak, Lamar jumps out to an early lead and then has to rally late to put its opponent away.

The same could be said Tuesday night when the Lamar baseball team rallied for five runs in the sixth to lock up a 7-2 win over Nicholls State for its 11th straight victory and seventh straight at Vincent-Beck Stadium, this one in non-conference action.

The 11 wins is tied with Southeast Missouri State, who downed Arkansas State on Tuesday, for the nation’s longest active win streak.  The Cardinals will look to tie the longest win streak it’s had since early 2013 at 3 p.m. today against Nicholls.

“I love streaks,” said Lamar head coach Jim Gilligan. “I just told the guys to cherish this thing. You never know how big it’ll get or if it will end tomorrow. You find your way to play a little bit harder when you have a steak going because you want to keep it alive.

“I’m happy with where we are right now, but there is always something to learn,” he said. “We just have to keep on getting better. As long as we don’t sit with where we’re at and try to get a little bit better every day, we’ll continue to grow.”

The Cardinals (21-7) have scored in the first inning eight times this season, and they made it nine Tuesday when they struck for two runs on a couple of RBI base knocks from Bryndan Arredondo and Cutter McDowell. With the lead, LU starter Fernando Martinez held the Colonels (12-18) down through three innings before they used an error to get on the board in the fourth.

Martinez retired the side in order in the fifth before the Colonels tied it up with a leadoff single, double and sacrifice fly in the sixth. The Cardinal offense took to it and put a five-spot on the board in the bottom of the frame, which started with a throwing error from Nicholls third base man Dylan Manichia.

The sixth inning for the Cardinal offense has been a big one, and with Tuesday’s run it increased its scoring output to 37 runs in the frame alone. The next closest is 29 in the fourth, and LU is now 17-2 when leading after six innings.

Russell reached on the infield error and swiped second base when he saw the throw rolled into foul territory. After a wild pitch, Cutter McDowell had a man on third with no outs. He drew a walk and Robin Adames was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Jacoby Middleton, who blooped a 1-0 count pitch in to right field.

Still with the bases loaded and no outs, Trey Silvers pinch hit for Chaneng Varela and laced a double that bounced over the third base bag and rolled into left field foul territory.  That allowed McDowell and Adames to score. Two batters later, Stijn van der Meer singled home Middleton and upped his hit streak to 18 games, tying Russell for sixth all-time in LU school history.

The final run of the frame, and game, was scored by Gavin Tristan, pinch runner for Silvers, on Nash’s fielder’s choice to Manichia.

The first inning runs for LU were notched when Arredondo doubled home Nash, who reached on a one-out walk. Arredondo made it 2-0 when scored from third on McDowell’s single that hit the pitcher and rolled to the shortstop. Russell advanced Arredondo to third base on a deep fly ball to right, which turned out to be a huge play.

Martinez worked 5 2/3 frames in the contest and allowed only one earned run on five hits and no walks; he also struck out three Colonels. Travis Moore (2-1) relieved him in the sixth and claimed the win on 2 1/3 scoreless innings pitched with a walk and four strikeouts.

“Fernando had a good, quality start, and then Moore went in and did a good job,” said Gilligan. “We did a good job on the mound tonight and I was pleased. Aside from a couple of situational at-bats, I thought we did a good job today.”

Joe Farley took the bump and the ninth and ran into trouble with eight straight balls (two walks), but recorded a strikeout and groundout to end it unscathed.

Van der Meer kept up his hot pace at the plate with a 2-of-4 day with a run batted in and walk. Arredondo and Middleton, both 2-of-4, joined him with a multi-hit game. Trey Silvers had a big blow in his lone at bat that scored two, and his bag runner scored a run in the contest.

LU walked away with nine hits, two more than Nicholls, and the Colonels left eight runners on base, one more than Lamar.

After the series against Nicholls is complete, the Cardinals will return to Southland Conference action with a road trip to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a trip that opens a four-game road stint.