BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar softball coach Holly Bruder wants her Lady Cardinals to enjoy their three-game sweep of Houston Baptist to open Southland Conference play, but she also wants them to know there's still plenty of work to be done.

Lamar (10-9 overall, 3-0 Southland) broke out the brooms with an 8-3 victory over the visiting Huskies on Saturday to complete a perfect weekend at the brand-new Lamar Softball Complex to improve to 9-0 all-time against HBU.

Bruder was quick to point out however, that the conference schedule is a marathon, not a sprint. She's hoping the team learned from last season, when Lamar opened Southland play with a 12-5 record only to lose the last nine conference games and miss out on qualifying for the conference tournament.

"When you're up, you have to stay up. You can't afford to let down at all," Bruder said. "You can't take any team lightly."

Casey Cromwell certainly didn't let down Saturday, especially when it came to her assault on opposing pitchers and the Lamar record book. Cromwell went 3-for-3 on Saturday, driving in three runs to move into first place on the program's all-time list for RBIs with 57, one ahead of Candyce Carter. Cromwell set the RBI mark with a two-run homer in the third inning. The home run was Cromwell's 16^th of her career, tying Beverly Corry for the school mark.

"Imagine what Casey could do if she had four years instead of three," Bruder said of Cromwell, who transferred to Lamar from Weatherford College, a two-year school, after her freshman season. "She's just incredible."

Cromwell wasn't the only one rewriting the record book on Saturday. Stephanie Meeuwsen went 1-for-2 with two RBIs as she extended her school-record hitting streak to 13 games.

"Stephanie has been so consistent this season," Bruder said. "Not only at the plate; but defensively at shortstop."

Freshman Sable Hankins had two hits for Lamar.

Lamar freshman Laura Napoli (6-5) scattered seven hits in a complete-game victory, allowing two earned runs. For the weekend, Napoli was 2-0 with one save and an ERA of 1.00.

"Laura didn't have her best stuff today, but she battled and found ways to get hitters out," Bruder said. "That's the sign of a great pitcher, when they don't have their best stuff, but still find a way to win."

Victoria Granchelli and Nicole Shedd had two hits apiece for Houston Baptist (6-13, 0-3).

Lamar returns to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday with a non-conference game at Texas State before returning home for a three-game Southland Conference series against Abilene Christian. The teams play a single game at 5 p.m. Friday and a doubleheader at noon Saturday. For ticket information, call (409) 880-1715, or visit www.LamarCardinals.com.

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