BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University softball team heads to Tulsa, Okla., this weekend for the final tuneup before Southland Conference play gets under way. The Cardinals (10-4) will face the Iowa Hawkeyes (4-11) and Tulsa Hurricane (11-4) on both Saturday and Sunday.
 
LU opens play by facing Iowa at 2:15 p.m. Saturday before facing Tulsa at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, LU faces Iowa at noon and Tulsa at 2 p.m.
 
"This will be our toughest weekend so far," LU coach Holly Bruder said. "Tulsa is playing really well right now, and Iowa is a strong school from a powerful conference. This will be a good test for us."
 
LU is off to its best start since reviving the program in 2013. The Cardinals were 5-9 after 14 games in each of the previous three seasons.
 
"We're playing good softball," Bruder said. "We've lost three close games. We've had seventh-inning leads in each of the last two games and lost. We have to learn how to finish games. But I believe we're playing well right now."
 
Junior first baseman Ashley McDowell leads the Cardinals in batting (.425), slugging percentage (.700) and on-base percentage (.561). She has stolen 11 bases in 13 attempts, putting her 18^th in the nation at 0.79 stolen bases per game. McDowell is second on the team with two home runs, and her 17 career HRs are the most among any active LU player.
 
"Ashley is playing well right now," Bruder said. "She has adapted well to the leadoff spot."
 
Sophomore right fielder Brittany Rodriguez is hitting .415 and enters the weekend on a 10-game hitting streak. Junior catcher Brynn Baca and sophomore third baseman Sable Hankins have each reached base safely in all 14 games this season.
 
As a team, the Cardinals are ninth in the nation with a .466 on-base percentage. LU is 23^rd nationally with an average of 7.07 runs scored per game. The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 50-20 over the first two innings.
 
"Our offense has been productive," Bruder said. "We just have to find a way to put away an opponent once we have them down."
 
Junior right-hander Ciara Luna (5-1, 1.76) and sophomore righty Laura Napoli (3-2, 2.92) are expected to each get two starts this weekend.
 
LU opens Southland Conference play next weekend with a three-game series at Houston Baptist.  The Cardinals aren't home again until hosting Incarnate Word in a Southland Conference doubleheader at 3 p.m. March 25.