BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University Cardinals are at Texas State for a non-conference game at 6 p.m. Wednesday before hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a three-game Southland Conference series at the LU Softball Complex this weekend.
 
The Cardinals (24-14 overall, 11-4 Southland) enter the week in second place in the conference, two games behind McNeese State and a half-game ahead of third-place Nicholls with 12 conference games remaining.
 
"Texas State is a tough team," LU coach Holly Bruder said. "Their pitching is solid and they play good defense. We're going to focus on getting our offense in gear and scoring some runs."
 
Texas State (24-15) has a team ERA of 2.27. Randi Rupp (16-8, 1.99) has seen the bulk of the work in the circle for the Bobcats, throwing 148 innings with 200 strikeouts. Defensively, Texas State has an impressive .971 fielding percentage.
 
"They don't make a lot of mistakes," Bruder said of the Bobcats. "They're fundamentally sound."
 
Offensively, Texas State is hitting just .237. Kelli Baker is the only Texas State player hitting better than .300, as she enters the game with a .320 batting average.
 
The Cardinals enter the week leading the Southland Conference with a .315 batting average and .421 on-base percentage. Sophomore Brittany Rodriguez with a .418 batting average. Kelly Meeuwsen (.345), Brynn Baca (.340), Jenna Holland (.337), Sable Hankins (.331) and Ashley McDowell (.324) are all hitting better than .300 for LU.
 
The LU pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.07. Junior right-hander Ciara Luna is 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA. Sophomore right-hander Laura Napoli (6-6, 3.22) needs one win to surpass Shannon Millman's total of 25 victories for the most wins in program history.
 
The Cardinals will return home immediately following Wednesday's game to prepare for their conference series with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (13-23, 3-12). LU is 12-1 at home this season, including 6-0 in conference play.
 
"This is a big series for us. We're fighting for a conference title, and this is a series we have to win," Bruder said. "The last three conference series are against the top teams in the conference (Central Arkansas, McNeese State and Nicholls. We want to put ourselves in a good position heading into the last three weekends of the season."
 
The series opens with a single game at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Saturday. Friday's game features the $40 Friday Family Four Pack, with four tickets, four hot dogs, four drinks and four boxes of popcorn available for $40. The first 250 fans will receive free Lamar University sunglasses. Representatives from The Arc of Greater Beaumont will throw out the first pitch on Friday.
 
Saturday is Senior Day, as LU honors seven seniors who are playing their final season with the Cardinals (Holland, Sarah Ragsdale, Marissa LeJune, Stephanie Meeuwsen, Baylie Comeaux, Morgan Buie and Lauren Dannelley). Fans who show their ticket from Saturday morning's spring football game will receive a discounted ticket for the softball doubleheader.
 
For ticket information, call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE.