BASEBALL: Stranded runners cost Lamar at NSU

Published 6:58 pm Saturday, March 23, 2019

Lamar sports information

NATCHITOCHES, La. — Leading 2-1 through five innings, Lamar (9-13, 2-6 Southland) couldn’t quite hold on at Northwestern State (11-9, 4-4 Southland) on Saturday, ultimately falling 5-2 to the Demons. The Cards matched NSU in hits but stranded seven on base.

Jason Blanchard went 6 1/3 innings with seven hits, four earned runs, three walks, and seven strikeouts. The senior from Kingwood faced the minimum in the second, fourth, and fifth innings. Jack Dallas relieved Blanchard through the final 1 2/3 innings and allowed one hit, one earned run, and one walk while striking out two.

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Lamar imitated its offensive start on Friday with another solo homer in the top of the second inning, this time coming from Logan Berlof. The junior transfer from Panola College worked a 3-1 count before finding the pitch he wanted and driving it about 5 feet over the left center wall, right above the “365 feet” marking. Two strikeouts from Blanchard in the bottom of the inning kept the score in LU’s favor, 1-0, through two innings.

Northwestern State responded in the bottom of the third with one run of its own. The Demons led off with a single that expired on a fielder’s choice, but a 1-3 putout put the next runner on second. A wild pitch advanced the runner to third before a single through the left side scored the Demon. A 2-4 caught stealing limited the damage and the game was tied, 1-1, through three.

A lead-off single from Anthony Quirion reached second on a sac bunt from Avery George and a single from Cole Girouard put Quirion on third. JC Correa earned his 12th RBI of the year on a single through the left side to put LU up 2-1, and a walk of Robin Adames loaded the bases. A fielder’s choice stranded three, which would eventually cost the Cards. Blanchard got his fourth and fifth strikeout of the day to keep LU out front 2-1 through five innings.

Northwestern State took its first lead of the series in the bottom of the sixth inning. Consecutive one-out walks advanced to second and third on a single through the right side, and a fielder’s choice in the next at-bat scored one Demon to tie the game at 2-2. A single up the middle put NSU out front 3-2 before a popup to first ended the inning with NSU leading 3-2.

A lead-off single in the bottom of the seventh and a one-out sac bunt put a runner in scoring position with two outs for NSU. An intentional walk proved costly for LU with a two-out double to left center, scoring both Demons on base. A strikeout from Dallas ended the inning but not before Northwestern State led 5-2.

Cole Girouard singled through the right side with one out in the top of the seventh but was thrown out while trying to steal second. That and a two-out single from Quirion in the bottom of the ninth were Lamar’s best chances to get back a run. Northwestern State held on for a 5-2 over Lamar to even the series at 1-1.

Douglas Palmer takes on Nathan Jones in the series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

George came within inches of carrying over his hitting and on-base streaks, narrowly being beat to first by throws from short in the third and seventh innings. The sophomore from Humble put the team first in the fifth inning with a sac bunt that he still almost legged out to first, but he was tagged by the first basemen while running down the right field line. A liner to first in George’s final at-bat in the ninth ended his hitting streak at 20 games and his reached-base streak at 31 games. The 20-game hit streak puts George in sole possession of fifth place and his 31-game on-base streak is second all-time, one game behind Stijn van der Meer’s 32-game streak in 2016.