Cardinal catcher Zak Skinner runs to first base against Prairie View A&M University at Vincent-Beck Stadium, March 19. UP photo by Brian Quijada.
NORMAN, Okla. – Senior Jacob Ellis pitched 5.0 innings, and Lamar University scored six runs on nine hits, as Lamar University swept the 25th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners with a 6-3 victory Saturday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
The victory moved Ellis to 5-0 on the season as Lamar improved to 22-5 (.815) overall. The Cardinals have now won 16 of their last 17 contests, after having their nation’s longest 13-game win streak snapped Tuesday at Houston.
For the series, the Cardinals pounded out 31 runs on 39 hits and recorded seven home runs.
The Cardinals nine hits Saturday came from four players with three recording multi-hit efforts. River Orsak and Austin Roccaforte each had three-hit games while Evans finished the day with two. Orsak was 3-for-5 with a double, Rocca- forte went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Evans also cracked a home run – his team leading seventh of the season and had a double.
Senior Jacob Ellis (5-0) took the ball for Lamar and gave the Red and White 5.0 strong innings to get the win allowing just two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts. He also pitched around four walks.
Ellis, who was one of four Cardinals to take the mound Saturday, was lifted in the sixth inning for Hunter Hesseltine who pitched 2.2 surrendering a run on three hits.Austin Neal recorded the final two outs of the contest to pick up his fifth save of the season.
Oklahoma went with Kyson With- erspoon who went 5.0 innings but he was hurt by some unfortunate defense behind him. He took the loss after surrendering five runs – one earned – on five hits. He did strike out seven Cardinals with one walk. Witherspoon suffered his second loss of the season to fall to 2-2.
For the second consecutive contest, the Cardinals got on the scoreboard in the first inning. Kanin Dodge led off the game with an eight-pitch walk. He came around to score two batters later when Evans doubled to center. The relay throw got away from the cut-off man allowing Dodge to cross the plate with no throw.
Oklahoma managed to tie the game in the bottom half of the second inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Isaiah Lane, but Ellis managed to get out of the inning two pitches later, preventing the Sooners from hanging a crooked number on the scoreboard.
Roccaforte got the lead right back for Big Red in the top half of the next inning. The first-year Cardinal took a 1-1 pitch over the wall in left field giving LU back a one-run lead, 2-1.
The score remained unchanged until the top of the fifth when Lamar broke through with a three-run inning. The Cardinals scored those three runs on two hits and also took advantage of two Sooner errors. With the first two batters aboard, Varnado squared up to lay down a sacrifice bunt but the throw by the Oklahoma third baseman went off Varnado’s left elbow which allowed Roccaforte to score all the way from second. Zak Skinner brought the second run around on a sacrifice fly to center. The Cardinals closed the inning when Tanner Wilson reached on an error to score Varnado. Orsak tried to sneak across but the throw home beat Orsak to the plate for the final out of the inning.
The Cards tacked on an insurance run with a two-out long ball off the bat of Brayden Evans – his second of the series – to give Lamar back a three-run lead.
The insurance run turned out to be icing on the cake as the Cardinals’ bull- pen kept the Sooners off the scoreboard in the ninth.
The Cardinals return to action Tuesday when they return home to host Sam Houston. The game against the Bearkats will begin at 6 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.