BEAUMONT, Texas – After playing 17 of its first 20 games in the friendly confines of Vincent-Beck Stadium, Lamar University (4-17, 0-6 SLC) will close out March with seven of its final eight games this month on the road, starting at the University of Houston (11-8, 0-0 American) on Tuesday. RHP
Chet Jones (0-1, 5.73 ERA) is scheduled to face Houston's
Brayson Hurdsman, a sophomore southpaw with a 1-3 record and a 4.97 ERA.
The Last Time Out – Southeastern Louisiana
Big Red played the Lions close in two of its three games, putting the winning run at the plate in the eighth inning of
Friday's 6-4 loss and
Sunday's 5-3 loss. Four runs allowed in the first inning spelled trouble for Lamar in the
8-1 loss on Saturday.
Cole Coker led the way in the series, hitting .455 with an RBI and no strikeouts.
Robin Adames and
Chad Fleischman both homered, and
Jack Dallas pitched an impressive three scoreless innings Saturday.
Lamar vs. Houston
Series Record
All-Time Series: Houston leads 51-30
At Lamar: Houston leads 20-15
At Houston: Houston leads 31-14
At Neutral Site: Lamar leads 1-0
Coach Davis against Houston: First meeting
Coach Whitting against Lamar: Lamar leads 5-4
Scheduled Starters:
RHP
Chet Jones (0-1, 5.73 ERA) vs.
LHP Brayson Hurdsman (1-3, 4.97 ERA)
In its eighth season under
Todd Whitting, the Cougars are 11-8 on the year, all in non-conference action. Whitting has 261 wins in his time at Houston, and led the Cougs to an American Athletic Conference tournament championship and an NCAA Regional in 2017. The Cougs won the AAC in 2014 as well, making a Super Regional, and appeared in the 2015 NCAA Regional.
Houston enters Tuesday on a three-game win streak after sweeping New Mexico and Columbia at Schroeder Park, where the Cougars hold a 9-3 record this season. The Cougs are hitting .255 with seven home runs and 34 doubles to accompany 80 RBI.
Joe Davis paces the offense with .362 batting average and 25 hits, including two homers.
Cooper Coldiron leads the team in RBI with 18.
Jared Triolo and Davis enter the game with double-digit reached-base streaks at 18 and 16 games, respectively.
Houston's pitching staff has thrown 181.0 innings so far this season with a 3.23 ERA, fanning 181 while walking just 65.
RHP Carter Henry has appeared nine times in relief with a 1.83 ERA and a 1-0 record.
On Deck
After Tuesday's game concludes the Cards will return to Beaumont for one day before hitting the road Thursday to play a three-game Southland Conference series at the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. The "other" Cardinals are 13-9 this year overall and 3-3 in SLC play. Big Red is 6-3 overall against UIW after sweeping Incarnate in 2017 at home. Lamar will briefly return home March 27 for a mid-week game against Northwestern State (11-8, 2-1 SLC) before hitting the road again to close out March at Houston Baptist (8-12, 2-1 SLC).
News and Notes on Lamar
CARDINAL BATS WARMING ALONG WITH THE TEMPERATURE
• LU hit just .192 in February, but since the calendar flipped to March the Cards are now swinging at a much improved .237 rate.
•
Cole Coker has shown the most drastic improvement. The sophomore was hitting just .171 (6-of-35) in February with three RBI and three runs scored while striking out nine times. In March he's hit .421 (16-of-38) with four RBI and three runs scored while striking out just twice.
• Phil Ingram (.000 in February to .364 in March),
Robin Adames (.273 in February to .278 in March), and
Chase Kemp (.120 in February to .235 in March) have also improved their hitting.
CARDS PLAY TOUGHEST SCHEDULE IN SOUTHLAND
Lamar's strength of schedule ranks 30th in the country and first in the SLC according to the NCAA. Lamar's past opponents have a combined 197-128 record (.606), and the Cards' first two SLC opponents are currently first and second, respectively, in the league standings. Thankfully the schedule gets easier moving forward, with LU's future opponents possessing a .481 winning percentage.
