LAKE CHARLES – Lamar scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning then held off McNeese in the bottom of the frame to pull out a 10-9 win over the Cowboys in the series finale of a Southland Conference baseball series.
The Cowboys (30-16, 11-10) were going for their first league sweep of the season after posting wins on Friday and Saturday night, and things were heading that way late in a back and forth affair with the Cardinals (27-20, 10-11).
Trialing 6-5 entering the bottom of the eighth, Tré Obregon III hit a 2-run home run to put the Cowboys on top 7-6. The next batter,
Brad Burckel homered to left field to make it an 8-6 lead. Both Obregon and Burckel were two of 15 seniors honored prior to the first pitch.
Lamar didn't back down, however, and scored four runs in the top of the ninth, three of them coming off a three-run home run by Ethan Ruiz, his second of the game.
The Cowboys didn't fold in the bottom of the inning when
Braden Duhon and
Josh Leslie led off with back-to-back singles. Obregon then was hit by a pitch on an 0-2 count, but the home plate umpire ruled he leaned into the pitch, taking the ball off the arm, and called him out by way of a called strike looking. After a pitching change and a second out,
Chase Keeton was hit-by-a-pitch to load the bases then
Payton Harden walked to score Leslie and pull the Cowboys to within 10-9.
The game ended when Elliott Hebert, who pinch-hit for
Andruw Gonzales, hit a laser down the first-base line but the Cardinal defender was shifted over perfectly to field the ball and get the out.
The Cowboys finished with nine hits in the game, seven of those coming off the bats of senior players. Both Leslie and Obregon each had two hits as Obregon knocked in three runs.
Taylor Darden hit a two-run home run in a three-run third inning that tied the game after Lamar opened the game with a three-run first. It was Darden's second home run of the weekend.
Lamar finished with 15 hits as Tanner Wilson posted a 3-for-3 day at the plate.
McNeese will be back in action on Tuesday when it visits Nicholls for a non-conference game, then will return to Southland action next weekend at Northwestern State in its final league series of the season.
