BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University softball team opens Southland Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Houston Baptist. The teams will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday and a single game Sunday at HBU's Husky Field.
 
Both teams enter the weekend looking to snap losing streaks. The Cardinals (10-8), have dropped six straight after a school-record nine-game winning streak. HBU (8-8) is on a five-game skid.
 
"It's frustrating because we're not playing that badly," LU coach Holly Bruder said of her team's slump. "We've hit the ball well, but we make one mistake and it comes back to haunt us. We have to find a way to close out games."
 
The Cardinals have been outscored 14-2 in the seventh inning this season, a trend Bruder knows has to be reversed.
 
"We are a team with plenty of juniors and seniors. This shouldn't happen. We have to find a way to stop the bleeding. We have to play with more confidence."
 
Sophomore right fielder Brittany Rodriguez enters the weekend on a 14-game hitting streak, equaling the mark set by Stephanie Meeuwsen last season. Rodriguez leads the Cardinals with a .431 batting average. Ashley McDowell is hitting .380 on the season. The junior first baseman has three home runs this season and 18 for her career, one shy of the school career mark held by Casey Cromwell.
 
As a team, the Cardinals lead the Southland Conference with a .324 batting average while averaging a league-best 6.22 runs per game.
 
"We're a better team than our record shows," Bruder said. "I think we're eager to get into conference play and show what we can do."
 
Junior right-hander Ciara Luna (5-2, 2.98) and sophomore righty Laura Napoli (3-3, 3.73) are LU's projected starters. They will face a Houston Baptist team that is hitting .267 on the season while being outscored 42-8 during the five-game skid. Savana Guidry leads the Huskies with a .409 batting average.
 
LU leads the overall series 9-0, having swept HBU in a three-game series in each of the past three years.
 
"We have a good record against HBU in the past, but this is a new season," Bruder said. "We can't take anyone for granted."
 
This weekend's series will be games 9 through 11 on LU's 16-game sojourn away from the LUC Softball Complex, where LU is 5-0 this season and 17-5 overall.
 
The cardinals aren't home until March 25, when they host Incarnate Word in a Southland Conference doubleheader.