Box score
BEAUMONT, Texas – Sam Bumper's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning spoiled the Northern Kentucky University baseball team's bid for its first NCAA Division I victory as Lamar University rallied for a 7-6 win over the Norse on Friday.
Jude Vidrine started off the rally with a single to left field. Back-to-back errors by
Logan Spurlin allowed Aaron Olivas and Zach Luevanos to reach base and load the bases, setting up Bumper's game-winning hit.
Bumper's single down the left field line drove in Vidrine and Olivas, and Lamar (1-0) escaped with victory.
Bumper went 3-for-4 with four RBIs to lead Lamar, while Vidrine finished 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI.
The Cardinals jumped out front in the second inning when a sacrifice fly brought home Brad Picha.
The Norse answered in the top of the fourth.
Brad Clement recorded NKU's first Division I hit, a home run over the right-field wall, to tie the game at 1-all.
With Lamar holding a 4-2 advantage after the sixth inning, NKU would add two runs to the scoreboard to again tie the game.
Ryan Hinz singled through the left side to start the inning. After a pitching change,
Josh Myers doubled down the right-field line, which advanced Hinz to third.
Pat Hyde brought Hinz home with a single for the tying run.
A triple by Andrew Dewey in the eighth inning brought Bumper home to put the Cardinals ahead once more at 5-4.
NKU,however, rallied in its final at-bat. Hinz drew a walk to begin the ninth. Lamar made a pitching change, and Myers laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Hinz to second.
Hyde reached base on a walk and was replaced by
Barrett Arnold. After a
Quint Heady strikeout,
Bradley Vanderglas stepped to the plate and sent the first pitch into the outfield. Hinz and Arnold scored to give the Norse their first and only lead (6-5) of the game, setting the stage for the walk-off hit in the bottom half of the inning.
Vanderglas finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, a double and a triple to lead the Norse.
Jonathan Dziedzic, who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 37th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, collected 10 strikeouts in six innings of work for the Cardinals. Ben Coram (1-0) earned the win for Lamar.
The two teams continue the four-game series Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader at 2 p.m.
