HAMMOND – No. 1 Lamar and No. 5 McNeese showed no shortage of ammunition at the plate in Friday evening's heavyweight battle of Southland powers. Utilizing a historic offensive output, the Cardinals moved past the Cowboys 18-9, avoiding elimination and activating a rematch of the semifinal matchup.
Lamar posted 18 runs in both of its Friday contests. The Cardinals tied the conference record for most home runs in a game with six while Orsak matched Lamar's David Moore for the the individual record for home runs in a game with three (David Moore, 2008).
Both teams saw high usage out of the bullpen. Andres Perez took the win for the Cardinals after two innings with one run and one hit while Brock Barthelemy with two runs in two innings of action.
But the spotlight belonged to the hitters on both sides, specifically River Orsak of Lamar. Orsak tied the tournament record with three home runs in a game (David Moore, 2008) and has matched the event record for home runs in a tournament with six. He ended a perfect four-of-four with five RBI, four ruins and one walk.
Brayden Evans went four-of-six with two RBI and three runs. Jack Schell ended the day three-of-five with three runs and two RBI.
Simon Larranaga went two-of-five with three RBI for the Cowboys while Elliot Hebert and Chase Keeton both tabbed two hits.
As they did against No. 8 UIW and No. 4 Northwestern State, Lamar started hot, bringing in three runs to start the second inning. The Pokes responded with three of their own in the bottom of the frame with the final two courtesy of a two-run jack off the bat of Pyeton LeJeune for his third home run of the tournament.
Orsak stepped to the dish for the second time in the third inning and cracked his first home run of the game, followed by Schell's two-run dinger to push the lead to 6-3.
Larranaga shifted the momentum with his own solo shot in the bottom of the inning and Brayley Hollins piled on with an RBI double that brought McNeese within a run.
Evans started the fourth with a solo home run and the Lamar lineup rotated back to Orsak who barrelled his fifth home run of the day out of Alumni Field. The Cardinals took an 8-5 lead heading to the bottom of the fourth
A fielding error would bring in another run for the Cowboys and Larranaga had his next at bat. He took another one deep, this time bringing another run with him to equalize the score at 8-8.
The bats on both sides took a brief intermission through the fifth and six innings until Orsak dug his cleats and squared his frame in the batter's box in the seventh before gashing the Cowboys for another rocket out of the park. That swing gave the one seed a 10-8 lead.
Hebert cushioned that blow with another solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to pull within a run oncemore, but that would be the McNeese scoring finale in the game. Lamar's already hot bats seemingly engulfed "The Pat" in an unquenchable flame in the eigth.
Zak Skinner raked a grand slam at his next at bat, making the score 14-9 and Lamar remained active on the base paths. Dodge and Evans combined to trickle in three more runs off RBI singles before Orsak flied out to call home the final run of an eight-run frame for the Cardinals.
McNeese would not match that output or find another score the rest of the way and Lamar escaped elimination for the third straight game.
The two will meet again Saturday for a spot in Saturday evening's Southland Baseball Championship game.