The New Orleans Privateers defeated the Lamar Cardinals 11-7 on Apr. 24 in the opening game of their baseball series at Maestri Field.
The victory was sparked by an eight-run surge in the third inning, which turned a four-run deficit into a lead that New Orleans maintained for the rest of the night. The offensive outburst came against Chris Olivier, who had previously been named Southland Pitcher of the Week four times this season.
Lamar took an early lead with three runs in the second inning and a solo home run by Theo Kummer in the third, making it 4-0. The Privateers responded when Evan Rogers singled to score Jayden Adcox, followed by Miles Curley’s three-run homer down the left field line. Dathan Cummings then delivered an RBI single with two outs to give New Orleans its first lead. Eli Tidwell capped off the inning with a home run over the left field fence, his eighth of the season, pushing their advantage to 8-4.
New Orleans added single runs in each of the next three innings while Bryson Goff pitched six innings with seven strikeouts and only one walk. Skylar Jones pitched two innings allowing just one unearned run before Lane Alack closed out the game on a fielder’s choice ground ball.
Kummer led Lamar with three hits and two RBI; AJ Taylor hit a home run as part of his two-hit night, and Hector Rodriguez contributed two hits and two RBI. Olivier allowed eight earned runs over 3.2 innings after not giving up more than three earned runs in any previous start this year.
Kareh Valentin went 3-for-4 for New Orleans with an RBI and scored twice. Curley and Tidwell each collected two hits and drove in four runs apiece. Rogers finished with two hits while Cummings had both an RBI and scored twice as well. The all-time series between New Orleans and Lamar is now tied at 59 wins each.
