Two early home runs allowed by Lamar University starter Jacob Ellis were too much for the Cardinals to overcome in their Southland Conference tournament opener on Wednesday.
New Orleans used a pair of homers in the second inning to take a big lead, then shut down Lamar’s offense the rest of the way during a 4-1 victory over the Cardinals in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The loss now brings Lamar to the brink of elimination with a game against either McNeese or Nicholls set for Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
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Ellis set down the first two New Orleans batters of the second inning before running into trouble. Lamar’s lefty allowed back-to-back singles, followed by a 3-run homer off the bat of Privateers senior catcher Jorge Tejeda.
The next at-bat didn’t go well for Ellis, either. A solo home run from Issac Williams made it a 4-0 deficit for Lamar just like that.
Ellis did, however, settle down as the game progressed. He pitched four straight scoreless innings to keep Lamar in the game after the rough second frame.
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The Cardinals offense didn’t do much to support Ellis. Lamar’s only run came in the third inning on a sacrifice fly from Tanner Wilson. The Cardinals were 2-for-14 with runners on base and grounded into two inning-ending double plays.
Nicholls was the Southland’s top seed entering the tournament, while McNeese played Tuesday in a single-elimination against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The game between the Cowboys and Colonels went past print time.