Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT – Kelly Meeuwsen’s walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted the Lamar Cardinals to an 8-7 win over McNeese State in the first game of a Southland Conference doubleheader on Friday. McNeese came back to claim a 5-1 win in the nightcap.
Meeuwsen rapped a two-run shot up the middle to cap an amazing comeback for the Cardinals (31-17 overall, 17-6 Southland), who scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh as LU rallied from a 5-0 deficit after the top of the first.
LU scored two in the bottom of the first and one in the second to cut the McNeese lead to 5-3. McNeese added one in the fourth and one in the top of the seventh to make it 7-3 before the Cards rallied for their first win over McNeese since softball returned to LU in 2013.
Brynn Baca opened the seventh with a single before Jenna Holland and Sable Hankins walked to load the bases. Ashley McDowell cleared the bases with a double to make it 7-6. The Cards loaded the bases again with no outs. Reliever Jamie Allred struck out Maddy Myers before surrendering the game-winning hit to Meeuwsen.
Laura Napoli (7-7) picked up the win in relief for the Cardinals, allowing two hits and one run over three innings. The win was the 26th of Napoli’s career, pushing her past Shannon Millman for the all-time LU record.
McDowell had three hits and three RBIs for LU. Meeuwsen and Holland had two RBIs apiece.
The series concludes with a single game at 3 p.m. Saturday.