BEAUMONT, Texas – A two-run single by third baseman Robin Adames in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday night lifted Lamar to a 12-11 victory over fifth-ranked LSU at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

LSU (3-1) sufferered its first loss of the season, while Lamar improved to 5-0 on the year.

With the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the eighth inning and LSU holding a 11-10 lead, freshman right-hander Caleb Gilbert entered the game for the Tigers and struck out the first two batters he faced. However, Adames lined an 0-2 pitched from Gilbert into center field to score the game-winning runs for the Cardinals.

Gilbert came back to strike out the next Lamar hitter to end the inning.

Lamar closer Enrique Oquendo pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his second save of the season.

“It’s a tough loss but we can certainly learn from this experience,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “We were playing in a tough road environment early in the season with a young team, and though we competed extremely hard, we fell short tonight. It was an intense atmosphere, the type of environment we’ll face throughout the season. What’s important is for us to move forward and continue to develop our team. We have a lot of games to play this season, and we’ll be ready for the next challenge, beginning this weekend.”

LSU reliever Parker Bugg (0-1) was charged with the loss, as he allowed two runs on one hit in 0.2 inning. Lamar reliever Jimmy Johnson (1-0) earned the win as he blanked the Tigers through 1.2 innings with no walks and two strikeouts.

LSU starter Austin Bain worked the first four innings, allowing three runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

LSU erupted for eight runs on six hits in the second inning to take an 8-0 lead. The big blow of the inning was a three-run homer by third baseman O’Neal Lochridge, his second dinger of the season. Catcher Michael Papierski and second baseman Kramer Robertson belted RBI doubles, and designated hitter Bryce Jordan added a run-scoring single to highlight the outburst.

Lamar struck for two runs in the bottom of the second on a two-run homer by catcher Bryndan Arredondo, and the Cardinals narrowed the gap to 8-3 in the third on an RBI double by rightfielder Jacoby Middleton.

Lamar continued to rally, finally taking a 10-8 lead in the sixth by scoring five runs on three hits and three walks against LSU reliever Riley Smith.

LSU, however, regained the lead in the seventh with three runs on four hits. A two-run single by first baseman Greg Deichmann and an RBI single by shortstop Cole Freeman gave the Tigers an 11-10 advantage.