BEAUMONT – The Sam Houston Bearkats could not work their way out of an early hole on Saturday at Lamar, falling 8-2 to the Cardinals in the second game of the series at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
Steven Beard took the loss, allowing five runs – just three earned – in 6.0 innings of work with three strikeouts.
Adam Wheaton picked up the win for Lamar, despite walking four batters and hitting three more with only one strikeout in 7.0 innings.
The Cardinals were able to get three runs on the board in the first inning and then tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the second to build up a 5-0 lead before the Kats were finally able to get a run on a sacrifice fly from
Justin Wishkoski in the third.
From there, Beard was able to put up four straight zeros on the board, retiring 12 of the final 15 hitters he faced to keep the Kats within striking distance; however, Sam Houston was not able to take advantage of Lamar pitching, stranding 11 runners and finishing just 2-for-14 with runners on base.
Carlos Contreras got a run back when he led off the sixth with a solo home run, but that was all the support the offense was able to provide.
Luke Repka was the only Kat to finish with multiple hits, picking up a pair, including a double.
The Kats and Cardinals will close out the series on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch that will be aired on the WAC Digital Network.
