BASEBALL: Cardinals falter in Spokane

Published 12:20 am Sunday, May 12, 2019

Lamar sports information

SPOKANE, Wash. — It just wasn’t Lamar’s night Saturday in the second game between the Cardinals (16-33) and Gonzaga (27-20). LU had luck break against it from the first at-bat and the Zags jumped on the chance, taking a 15-0 decision over Big Red.

Gonzaga brought an aggressive approach at the plate from the first pitch, getting three runs on five hits in the first inning. LU starter Jason Blanchard stranded two on stellar outfield defense in the second, and though he struck out the side in the third the Zags got one more run on a solo homer to left that just cleared the fence. A third of the way through the game Gonzaga led 4-0.

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The Zags added three more in the third. A lead-off walk reached second on a single through the right side and got to third on a 5-3 grounder. A walk in the next at-bat loaded the bases, and a hit-by-pitch got the first run. An RBI walk and a sac fly on a foul out to right field pushed the final two runs of the inning home. Through four the Zags led 7-0.

A hit-by-pitch, a walk, and an error loaded the bases for the Zags in the bottom of the fifth before a first-pitch grand slam put the score at 11-0. Two strikeouts and a grounder to second ended the fifth.

LU threatened in the seventh inning. Robin Adames pulled within seven hits of the LU career record with a lead-off single, his 249th hit, and reached second on a single by Logan Berlof. Two strikeouts kept the Cards in place on first and second, but Jorge Gutierrez drew a walk in 10 pitches to load the bases. A pop-up on the right field line stranded all three.

Two hit-by-pitch, a walk, and two singles scored four more runs for the Zags in the seventh inning, and two singles in the eighth put the score at its final margin, 16-0.

The series finale is set for a 5 p.m. Central first pitch on Sunday with Grason Wright on the mound for Lamar.