BASEBALL: Lamar takes season-opening series from LIU Brooklyn
Published 3:32 pm Saturday, February 16, 2019
BEAUMONT — J.C. Correa’s first Lamar hit was a home run, and Cole Coker put it to good use.
Coker slapped a full-count, two-out single to right field to break a 1-1 tie, and Lamar took the first game of a Saturday doubleheader with LIU Brooklyn, 2-1.
The Cardinals then finished a series sweep with an 8-4 victory.
“It went really well,” Lamar coach Will Davis said in a release. “This weekend was a lot of fun and we got three quality starts from our starting pitchers, which was huge. Also getting three saves from three different people was great. It was good to see our defense play so well with only one true fielding error this weekend and honestly everything went well. In the opening weekend, hitting is usually a little off. So to see the big hits where we needed them was really encouraging, especially against a quality opponent.”
Lamar (3-0) and LIU Brooklyn (0-3) moved up the third and final game of their season-opening series to the back end of a doubleheader due to inclement weather. Game 2 started at 1 p.m., an hour earlier than scheduled, and finished in 2 hours, 3 minutes.
The gray clouds Saturday held up enough for Lamar, playing on a recently installed turf with a giant “LU” athletic logo covering center field and alternating shades of green, and LIU. The Cards secured a series victory against the Northeast Conference champions, who went 0-2 in the NCAA Coastal Carolina Region.
Correa, the brother of Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, batted 2 for 3, adding a single in the seventh, and Avery George went 2 for 4 (both singles). Correa’s home run was a solo shot over the left-field wall off a 1-0 pitch leading off the bottom of the fifth.
Coker was 1 for 4, but his single came at the right time for a Lamar team that stranded four on base.
Austin Smith (1-0) earned the win on the mound after striking out two out of seven batters faced in 2 1/3 innings. Ryan Erickson earned the save, striking out his last batter in a three-up, three-down ninth.
Lamar starter Noah Sills scattered four hits, struck out two and walked three in 5 2/3 innings. He left after the Blackbirds’ Anthony Warneke drove in the tying run on a bases-loaded sacrifice grounder in the sixth inning.
Rob Griswold (0-1) took the loss after giving up the winning run on four hits in two innings. He fanned two.
Blackbirds starter Jackson Svete allowed an earned run on two hits through six innings. He never allowed multiple runners on base in an inning.
Robin Adames of Lamar had a single in the seventh, followed by Correa’s single. But that threat ended in a double play.
In the back end of the doubleheader, Lamar jumped to a 7-0 lead through three innings, including a four-spot in the first inning.
George, Adames and Correa each pounded two hits. Jorge Gutierrez, Cole Secrest, Rhett McCall and Coker each had a hit as well. Grason Wright (1-0) struck out four, walked two and gave up two earned runs (three total) on four hits in five innings for the win. Erik Key threw an inning of relief ande allowed an earned run on a hit, and Douglas Palmer threw five K’s and gave up a hit in the final three innings for the save.
Andrew Smith, Brock Hallum and Griswold each hammered two hits for the Blackbirds. Patrick Clyne (0-1) allowed four earned runs (five total) on six hits in two innings, Alec Huertas came on to hold Lamar to two unearned runs on one hit in three innings, and Mike Kreiger gave up the last run on three hits in the final three innings.
Lamar won Friday’s season opener 6-2 as Jack Dallas of Orange threw three innings of three-hit ball and struck out two in relief. Cole Secrest homered in that victory.
The Cards will visit Tulane for a two-game set Tuesday and Wednesday.
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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews