ABILENE – Lamar baseball scored at least one run through the first six innings Friday night at Crutcher Scott Field en route to a 13-1 win over Abilene Christian. The Wildcats' lone run was produced by senior center fielder and Abilene native
Derek Scott with a first inning homer that was his fifth of the season.
ACU (20-18, 7-10 Southland) recorded two more hits afterward with sophomore
Colton Eager starting the third inning with a single back up the middle and senior
Dalon Farkas legging out an infield single with two gone in the sixth.
Jason Blanchard (4-3) started for the Cardinals and lasted 7.0 innings in which he struck out eight batters on 107 pitches. Kristjan Storrie followed with two hitless innings.
Brock Barger (2-5) was saddled with the defeat after surrendering four runs (three earned) on five hits through 2.2 innings (16 batters faced).
Hunter Spaeth also was hit hard over 3.1 innings, giving up nine runs (three earned) on eight hits, but relievers
Mark Geisel (2.0 IP) and
David Ruot (1.0) helped stabilize matters with three scoreless frames.
Geisel escaped a seventh-inning bases loaded jam with a double play – one of three turned tonight by ACU, and in the eighth, Eager made a tremendous sliding catch in shallow right-center field to rob pinch hitter Logan LeJeune of a base hit. Ruot gave up a pair of singles in the ninth but got out of it with a swinging strikeout of Kirkland Banks.
The Wildcats and Cardinals (14-25, 6-14 Southland) conclude their series Saturday at 1 p.m.
