Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT – The Lamar Cardinals wrapped up play in the second annual Cardinal Classic by splitting a pair of gems Sunday at the LU Softball Complex. LU was a 4-2 winner over Northern Illinois before dropping a 5-4 decision to Tulsa. The Cardinals (5-10) went 3-2 on the weekend.

In LU’s previous games this weekend, the Cardinals defeated Alabama A&M 6-3 on Thursday and South Dakota State 5-2 on Friday before falling to Kansas on Saturday.

“We love to host quality teams, and that’s what we did this weekend,” Lamar coach Holly Bruder said. “We had five hard-fought games this weekend, with a pair of tough one-run losses.”

LU 4, Northern Illinois 2

The Cardinals made the most of their three hits to defeat the Huskies in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Kelly Meeuwsen drove in three of LU’s four runs, producing a run-scoring single in the second inning and a two-run triple to the gap in left-center in the fourth inning. Sable Hankins had LU’s other hit and scored twice for the Cardinals.

LU starter Laura Napoli (3-3) picked up the win, scattering 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings. She did not walk a batter and struck out three. Anissa Rodriguez pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings before Ciara Luna got the final two outs for her second save of the season.

Sam Schmidt went 3 for 3 with two RBIs for the Huskies (6-3), who suffered their only loss in five games over the weekend.

Tulsa 5, LU 4

The Cardinals fell to 0-7 in one-run games after rallying from an early 4-0 deficit only to see the Golden Hurricane (8-7) push across a run in the top of the seventh.

Luna (1-7) got off to a rocky start, allowing one run in the top of the first and three more in the top of the third before settling down.

LU got on the board in the third inning on a two-run double by Brynn Baca. The Cardinals cut the lead to 4-3 in the fifth inning when a Shelby Henderson sacrifice fly scored Corina Thornton.

Thornton came through in the bottom of the sixth inning by bunting down a perfect two-out, two-strike bunt for a single to score Maddy Myers to tie the game at 4.

The Golden Hurricane (8-7) scored the winning run in the top of the seventh as Julia Hollingsworth doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Morgan Neal. LU threatened in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners on second and third, but failed to push across any runs.

Luna took the loss, allowing nine hits and five runs, all earned, over six-plus innings. Tulsa’s Emily Watson (6-2), making her first appearance of the season in relief, got the win, with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits.

Thornton went 3-for-3 for the Cardinals against Tulsa.

UP NEXT

The Cardinals play in their fourth tournament in as many weekends when they head to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in an event hosted by the Arkansas Razorbacks that gets underway Friday. The Cardinals return home to open Southland Conference play against Northwestern State on March 10-11.