Lamar sports information

BATON ROUGE — Outhitting LSU (25-17) through the top of the sixth, three errors and a solo homer allowed the Tigers to pull away from Lamar (13-28) late in an 8-0 win Tuesday at Alex Box Stadium.

Jace Campbell impressed through 6 2/3 innings against the Tigers; he struck out four while allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits and three walks. The first run of the game came in the bottom of the third. An error allowed Brandt Broussard to reach with one out, and another error on a dropped foul ball kept Josh Smith alive at the plate in what potentially could’ve been the final out of the inning.

Instead Smith singled to right to put runners on the corners, and a sac fly scored Broussard. LSU led 1-0 through three on an unearned run.

Lamar came close to taking the lead in the top of the fourth. Philip Ingram led off with a single up the middle followed by a bunt single by Cole Girouard and a walk of Robin Adames, loading the bases with no outs. Two strikeouts froze the three Cards on base before Cole Secrest made good contact with a ball but lined it straight at the Tiger shortstop, stranding all three. Campbell sat down the LSU batters in order in the fourth and fifth, and through five LSU led 1-0 over Lamar.

A homer on the second pitch of the sixth inning sparked LSU’s bats. Campbell struck out the next batter but followed that with a walk, and a stolen base in the fourth at-bat of the inning advanced to third on an error before a single to centerfield scored the Tiger on third. After six innings LSU led 3-0.

LSU drew a walk to lead off the seventh that advanced to second on a sac bunt. A 4-3 grounder pushed the Tiger to third, ending Campbell’s night. A walk put runners on the corners before a single up the middle scored LSU’s fourth run of the night. A two-RBI double to center put the score at 6-0 before a 4-3 grounder ended the run.

LSU scored its final two runs of the evening in the bottom of the eighth. The Tigers led off with a single that advanced to second on a walk. A single to center loaded the bases with no outs, but the Cardinal defense held in the next two at-bats, getting a throw-out at home on a fielder’s choice and freezing the runners on base when Secrest quickly threw home on a shallow flyout. A single to left field scored two though with two outs before a strikeout ended the inning. After eight LSU led 8-0.

In pinch-hitting situations Mitch Andrews and Chad Fleischman collected one-out singles to put a Cardinal in scoring position but a strikeout and a grounder ended the game.

Lamar returns to action Wednesday evening at Southern, also in Baton Rouge. The Cardinals will start Garrett Walker (0-0, 6.30 ERA) against an undetermined Jaguar. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. That mid-week game will be followed by a three-game series at Nicholls State which could determine the final spot in the Southland Conference tournament.