BEAUMONT, Texas – The Cardinals have practiced and played each other for weeks, but finally the Lamar University Baseball squad can hit the field when it welcomes Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Illinois to Vincent-Beck Stadium for the Cardinal Classic to open the 2017 campaign Friday afternoon.
 
Lamar plays its season opener at 6 p.m. against UWM, following the Panthers' contest against Illinois at 2 p.m. – which opens the tournament. Illinois plays a doubleheader Saturday, staring with Milwaukee at noon and the Cardinals at 4 p.m. The Cardinals open their doubleheader Sunday at 10 a.m. with Illinois, and will play UWM 30 after the conclusion with the Illini. 
 
"We're really excited to get this season started, this is why we do what we do. We don't practice just to practice, we practice to get better when we play," said first-year head coach Will Davis. "We're ready. We're ready to see what this team is going to be about. Ready to line it up and take our best shot.
 
"The offseason is just different," he said. "There is a lot to do during the offseason, but there is nothing that compares to competing in those games."
 
Led by Preseason All-American Reid Russell, the Cardinals – picked third in the SLC polls – return six spots back to their lineup from its 2016 season, including Russell, Bryndan Arredondo, Trey Silvers, Cutter McDowell and Robin Adames. All five were voted to the Preseason All-Southland Conference team.
 
"We have several experienced hitters in our lineup. But not only that, we have several successful and experienced hitters," said Davis. "I'm excited to send this group out there every day and watch the opposing pitcher try to maneuver through it four or five times a game."
 
Russell returns after a monster 18-home run season, which tied a school record. He is the league's top returner in home runs and runs batted in, and is second in batting average. He was voted the league's Preseason Player of the Year by Perfect Game, Baseball America and D1Baseball.com.
 
Arredondo (.314/3 HR/26 RBI) and Silvers (.314/8/21) were both first-team preseason picks, and McDowell (.305/5/28) and Adames (.296/6/33) were second team selections. Adames earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors after his 2016 campaign.
 
On the mound, Lamar returns its closer Jimmy Johnson (7-2, 5 saves), who will serve in the same role as last year. Newcomer and right-handers Tanner Driskill and Carson Lance will start the season on the hill for Lamar. Driskill will take the mound Friday night against Milwaukee and Lance on Saturday against Illinois. Both of Sunday's starters are to be determined.
 
Driskill will matchup against righty Elijah Goodman, who had 5-1 record and held a 2.73 earned run average last season for the Panthers, on Friday night. Milwaukee returns 18 letterwinners, five position players and four starting pitchers from its 32-36 campaign.
 
At the plate, UWM gets back its top hitter in All-American catcher Daulton Varsho. He hit for a .381 batting average, team-high 51 runs batted in and eight home runs. As a team last season, the Panthers hit for a .264 average and scored 323 runs (5.5 per game). On the mound, they had a 4.33 earned run average with 447 strikeouts in 515.1 innings.
 
Lance will take on Illinois' righty Cole Bellari. He was 2-3 last season with a 3.34 earned run average in 59 innings pitched. He had nine starts in 16 appearances, and also had a save. He was a part of an Illini staff that finished 2016 with a 3.60 earned run average and 378 strikeouts in 455 innings.
 
At the plate, the Illini return one of its top three hitters, Pat McInerney, who had a .301 batting average, 27 RBI and 28 runs. As a team, they hit for a .251 average and scored 226 runs (4.4 pg).
 
All of the Cardinals' games in the tournament will be streamed live for free at BigRedSN.com. Once LU wraps up the Cardinal Classic, it will host Fairfield in a four-game set that starts Feb. 24 at 6 p.m.
 
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF THE BECK
• Seven of Lamar's last eight season openers have taken place at Vincent-Beck Stadium, and Big Red is a perfect 7-0 in those games.
• The only opener not in Beaumont was a neutral site game at Mississippi State that the Cards dropped to Akron in 2011.
• The 2017 Cardinal Classic is third hosted by Lamar in the last four seasons.
 
CARDINALS ALWAYS GEARED UP FOR OPENING DAY
• LU has been through 53 opening days heading into Friday night's contest, and Big Red has taken 34 of them for a 64.1 winning percentage.
• The Cardinals hold a five-game win streak in season openers, which includes wins over Southeast Missouri State, New Mexico State, Marist, Northern Kentucky and Arkansas State.
• In the last 10 years, LU has only lost two season openers.
 
LAMAR LOOKS FOR FIRST WIN OVER ILLINI
• The Illini and Cardinals have squared off five times all-time, and Illinois has taken each one of them, including two most recently in the 2015 Lamar Cardinal Classic. That team went on to the Super Regionals as a national seed. The first meeting of the series was in 2008 when Lamar lost 1-0 in the Al Ogletree Classic in Edinburg.
• The two faced off against each other twice in 2012 as well (9-3, 9-8).
 
FIRST MEETING BETWEEN CARDINALS, PANTHERS
• Lamar and UW-Milwaukee has never faced off before.