Lamar sports information

CORPUS CHRISTI — Lamar (8-26, 4-12 Southland) loaded the bases three times Friday night en route to a 12-2 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (18-17, 3-10 SLC).

Robin Adames had six RBIs on the night on three hits including two doubles.

“I think it’s pretty interesting that two of our wins have come against the conference’s best arms,” said head coach Will Davis. “Going into the year Brian Warzek and Aaron Hernandez were considered the best two, and you could see that from the amount of scouts that were here tonight. Pretty incredible by our guys to put up 12 runs, and obviously Tanner and Jack were terrific. Considering the crazy winds I thought we played pretty well defensively, and those clutch at-bats show we’re improving as an offense.”

Tanner Driskill was very impressive through six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits while striking out three and walking three. The Islanders came close to scoring in the bottom of the second when they loaded the bases with two outs, but the senior righty from Round Rock forced a grounder to himself to end the threat.

A scoreless game through four innings, momentum started to shift the Cardinals’ way in the fifth inning. Chad McKinney and Philip Ingram drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning, and Adames stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second and one out. The junior from The Bronx, New York, product worked a 3-2 count before slashing a double into left center field that scored McKinney and Ingram. Logan LeJeune would bring Adames home on a single to right, giving Lamar a 3-0 lead.

The game would swing solidly in Lamar’s favor in the sixth. On a 3-1 count Grant DeVore hit a line drive right at Islander pitcher Aaron Hernandez, smacking him in the leg and forcing an injury-related dead ball. The A&M-Corpus Christi starter would depart the game and be relieved by Chad Romere, who would walk Avery George. A fielder’s choice from Chad McKinney struck down DeVore but kept runners on first and second, and a walk of Ingram would load the bases with one out and run Romere.

The next Islander pitcher forced a popup from Cole Girouard for the second out, but Adames wasn’t done with the inning. On a 2-2 count the junior first baseman tattooed a ball deep into centerfield. The Islander centerfielder attempted to jump to catch the ball but was just slightly off as the ball careened off the fence. All three Cardinal batters scored, giving Lamar a 6-0 lead.

A&M-Corpus Christi began to fight back in the bottom of the seventh, drawing consecutive walks to open the inning. Driskill struck out the next batter he faced, but his day was done after that. Jack Dallas relieved Driskill and got a flyout to left for the second out before Jackson Owens tripled to centerfield on a 2-2 count. Dallas ended the Islander scoring opportunity with a popup to DeVore deep in right field. After seven, Lamar led 6-2.

Clutch hitting would again help Lamar in the eighth. With two outs Cole Girouard singled through the left side on the first pitch he saw, and Adames drew a five-pitch walk to put Girouard in scoring position. A passed ball allowed both Big Red base runners to advance before Cole Coker took one on the crown of his head on the seventh pitch of his at-bat. With the bases loaded LeJeune collected an RBI walk, and Cole Secrest collected his third hit of the day in the next at-bat, scoring two. A passed ball scored LeJeune and Secrest rounded towards home but was thrown out by the third baseman. A double play kept the Islanders off the board, and after eight Lamar led 10-2.

Lamar’s final two runs of the day came in the ninth. DeVore reached to lead off the inning on an error by the Islander left fielder and advanced to second when George was walked. A one-out walk to Ingram loaded the bases for the third time, and singles from Girouard and Adames pushed DeVore and George across. Dallas closed the game by sitting down A&M-Corpus Christi in order, and Lamar won 12-2.

The Cardinals will go for a series win Saturday at 4 p.m. with Noah Sills (2-4, 3.92 ERA) on the mound. He’ll face righty Leo Perez (4-2, 3.08 ERA).