No. 1 McNeese Hangs on to Top No. 8 Lamar 7-5
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY | REPLAY
SUGAR LAND, Texas – McNeese topped Lamar 7-5 Wednesday afternoon in Game 3 of the Southland Conference Tournament at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
Prior to the game’s first pitch, seven McNeese players and coaches were presented with all-conference awards and the Jim Gilligan trophy recognizing their regular-season championship. The No. 1 seed Cowboys went on to defeat the No. 8 Cardinals.
McNeese dented the scoreboard in the first inning when catcher Dustin Duhon homered over the left-center field wall. The Cowboys struck again in the second courtesy of Austin Nelson and his mammoth blast that cleared the batter’s eye in centerfield, making it 2-0.
Lamar countered in the next frame with a run when Robin Adames singled to right to score Reid Russell, who reached earlier in the inning on a walk.
Center fielder Robbie Podorsky recorded the first of his two RBIs on the day in the bottom of the fourth inning with a single up the middle, followed by McNeese fielding error which allowed Nelson to score. Matt Gallier worked an RBI walk to make it 4-1 in favor of the Pokes.
Lamar pushed across a pair of runs in response, scoring two in the fifth. The first when Grant Devore’s fielder’s choice allowed and a subsequent Cowboys’ throwing error scored Phil Ingram. Also in the fifth inning, DH Robin Adames singled in Devore to cut the McNeese lead to 4 to 3.
Ricky Ramirez got into the act in the sixth inning when he had a two-RBI single to right field that allowed Will Fox and Podorsky to score, extending the Cowboys lead to 6 to 3.
Podorsky added an RBI single scoring Fox in the seventh to complete McNeese’s offensive output in a game in which they scored in five separate innings.
The Pokes thwarted multiple Lamar comeback bids, including in the eighth inning when Lamar loaded the bases with no outs. The Cowboys wiggled out of it, allowing one run via an RBI walk by Trey Silvers.
The Cardinals made it a two-run game in the ninth inning when Robin Adames stroked an RBI single scoring Vincent Dellocano. The RBI was Adames’ third of the game.
Grant Anderson picked up the win after going 2 2/3 in relief of McNeese starter Austin Sanders. Collin Kober tossed a scoreless two-thirds of an inning to secure the save.
McNeese moves on to play Thursday at 7 p.m. when they face the winner of Wednesday’s Houston Baptist-Central Arkansas nightcap, while Lamar will face the loser of that game.
Every game of the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament will be carried live on ESPN3. Southland assistant commissioner Chris Mycoskie will handle play-by-play duties, while several Southland teams’ radio announcers will also showcased in the ESPN3 booth during the early rounds. For the title game, Mycoskie will be matched with color analyst Greg Swindell, a former first-team All-American at the University of Texas and 17-year Major Leaguer.