Lamar sports information

ABILENE — Attempting to overcome three unearned runs surrendered to Abilene Christian (21-18, 8-10 Southland), Lamar fought back in the ninth and put the winning run at the plate. The Cardinals (14-26, 6-15 Southland) put the ball in play but came up just short, falling 6-5 to the Wildcats on Saturday in the series finale.

Starter Grason Wright went six and a third innings in another great showing with just three hits, three walks, and one earned run allowed.

He struck out five on 101 pitches. Three unearned runs scored on Wright on two errors and a passed ball. Reliever Ryan Erickson finished out the day with one and two-thirds innings of one-hit, no run baseball, striking out three while allowing no hits or walks.

ACU got the scoring started in the bottom of the first. A lead-off single advanced to second on a hit-by-pitch and reached third on a passed ball.

An RBI grounder scored the unearned run before a pop-up and a strikeout ended the inning. The Wildcats led 1-0 through the first inning.

A solo shot from Reese Durand, his first homer of the year, tied up the game in the top of the third, but two more unearned runs would score for Abilene in the bottom of the inning. A lead-off single reached second on a walk before a one-out error allowed the Wildcats to load the bases.

Another error on a fielder’s choice gave ACU time to bring two runs home and take a 3-1 lead through three innings.

Neither team scored in the fourth, fifth, or sixth innings as Wright worked his magic. The redshirt sophomore from Warr Acres, Oklahoma, faced the minimum in the fourth and sixth and worked his way out of a jam in the fifth. With two outs a wild pitch had put two Cats in scoring position. On a 2-0 count Wright pulled the string on the ACU batter three times in a row to get his fourth strikeout of the day and strand the two Wildcat runners.

An unearned run for the Cardinals pulled Lamar back within a run in the top of the seventh. Avery George singled to right with one out and reached third on a failed pickoff attempt. Cole Girouard earned an RBI on a grounder to second to put the score at 3-2 ACU heading into the bottom frame. ACU responded in the second half of the inning with a leadoff double that reached third on a sac bunt. Two walks and an error on a failed pickoff brought home one run and an RBI double with one out scored two more. A grounder to short and a strikeout ended the seventh with ACU leading 6-2.

JC Correa homered to open the eighth but the Cards went down in order after that moon shot, and the score sat 6-3 heading into the bottom of the inning. Erickson got two strikeouts and a pop-up to center to keep ACU off the board.

Durand led off the ninth with a single to center field and came home on Rhett McCall’s second homer of the year. Cole Coker doubled with two outs but was stranded on a grounder to short. The throw to first beat Correa by half a step and ACU escaped with a 6-5 win over Lamar. The Wildcats took the series 2-1.

Lamar returns to action on Tuesday with a non-conference game at LSU and will continue the road trip at New Orleans next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Cards will play at Baylor in the final day of April on the following Tuesday before finally returning home for the beginning of May. Southeastern Louisiana will come to town for three games on May 3-5 and Rice will come on May 7 before Lamar flies to Gonzaga on May 10-12 and from there to TCU on May 14. A three-game series at home against Central Arkansas will wrap up the regular season on May 16, 17, and 18.