LAKE CHARLES, La. — New Orleans hit back-to-back home runs to cap a four-run second inning and that was all the offense they needed to defeat Lamar University, 4-1, in the opening round of the 2023 Southland Conference Championships Wednesday at Joe Miller Ballpark.
Junior Jacob Ellis (4-5) got the start and went 6.0 innings allowing the four earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts. Ellis ran into trouble only in the second as he, along with the rest of the Cardinals’ pen, hung zeroes on the board in the other eight innings.
Jackson Cleveland came on in the seventh and pitched 1.1 of scoreless innings before handing things over to Quinn Waterhouse in the eighth. Waterhouse gave LU 0.2 innings of scoreless baseball before being pulled due to a weather delay and Trhea Morse closed out the final inning.
Brandon Mitchell got the start for the Privateers and went 8.0 innings allowing one earned run on four hits to get the win. He also struck out nine batters.
The Cardinals scored their one run on six hits and were charged with an error, while UNO managed four runs on seven hits. Six different Cardinals recorded hits with Tanner Wilson driving in the run.
New Orleans struck first with a four-run second inning, all coming with two outs and all runs coming via the long ball. The first was a three-run homer from Jorge Tejada followed by an Isaac Williams solo shot two pitches later.
Lamar (33-22) back in the third inning with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Wilson. Following Wilson’s RBI the score remained 4-1 until the nint despite several opportunities from both teams.
The Cardinals had opportunities in the 4th – 7th innings, and again in the ninth, but all were snuffed out including inning-ending double plays in both the 4th and 5th innings.
The score remained 4-1 heading into the top of the ninth, when Miguel Usesche singled the second pitch he saw back up the middle. Moments later the game was halted for lightning in the area. The delay lasted 2:27 before play resumed. When the Cardinals went back on the field, Morse took over on the mound for Waterhouse.
Morse didn’t allow UNO to add to its lead. In the bottom half of the inning Snell smoked a 2-1 offering from Julian Mead that was misplayed by the Privateers left fielder. Snell never slowed down and hustled out a leadoff double. The Cardinals had runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs in the inning but left both runners stranded.
The Cardinals will return to the diamond Thursday at 2:30 p.m. LU will face the winner of the McNeese/Nicholls contest. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ from Joe Miller Ballpark.