HOUSTON – Two teams that fell in the RPI rankings despite winning two of three in their respective league series over the weekend will look to regain momentum Wednesday when the Lamar University baseball team travels to Rice for a big midweek contest. First pitch is slated for 6:30 at Reckling Park on the Owls' campus.
The Cardinals (31-11) traveled to San Antonio with a RPI (Rating Percentage Index) that sat at 42 and took two-of-three from Southland Conference foe Incarnate Word, but Big Red's RPI fell to 56. For the Owls (27-14), they bested Charlotte twice at their own park, but fell from 20 to 30 in the rankings.
The two teams were supposed to play each other on March 8 at Vincent-Beck Stadium, but rain forced a cancellation of that game. The game Wednesday marks the end of the Cardinals seven-game road swing, which sits at 5-1 heading in.
With Houston now added to the slate for next week, the next eight games are crucial to the Cardinals. Rice and Houston will be big games for LU's chances to claim and at-large bid, and three-game tilts against Southland Conference front-runners Southeastern Louisiana and Sam Houston State will give LU a chance to vie for the league title.
Two right-handers will battle it out to start the game on the mound. Lamar will send out
Jayson McKinley (2-1, 3.93 earned run average), and he will be opposed by Zach Esquivel (0-0, 4.22). McKinley will look to rebound after a couple of tough outings went against him. One of LU's reliable hurlers to start the season, he's worked 50 1/3 innings with only 22 earned runs allowed. He's struck out 42 batters and only walked 10.
Esquivel is a part of a great Rice pitching staff that holds a team-ERA of 2.73, which ranks seventh in the country. The right-hander will get his first start Wednesday in his 11
th appearance. He's worked 10 2/3 innings with five earned runs, nine walks and eight strikeouts.
The Owls are led in batting average by Tristan Gray, at .338. Ford Proctor tops the team with 18 runs batted in, tied with Dayne Wunderlich. Proctor's 20 runs is one are than the team leader in Ryan Chandler. Charlie Warren has a .323 batting average with 18 runs and 13 RBI.
Reid Russell, who has been crushing in his last 48 at-bats, continues to pace the Lamar offense. He has team-best counts in batting average (.381), home runs (15) and RBI (52). He's third in runs scored behind
Jake Nash (38) and
Stijn van der Meer (34).
Russell has a .458 batting average in his last 48 at-bats (22 hits). In that span, he has 11 runs, 22 RBI, three doubles, five homers and a triple. He has a crushing .875 slugging percentage and team-best .491 on-base percentage.
Nash picked up the team's third significant hit-streak of the season, this one is at 12 games. On the streak, he's hitting .380 with 13 runs scored and six RBI. He's popped four doubles and a homer in the 12 games.
Lamar has had a great year on the road so far this year with a 13-4 record. As a team, it hits at a .304 clip.
The Cardinals return home Friday for the big league series against the Lions, which starts at 6 o'clock. That contest opens a seven-game home stand at The Beck, one of two seven-game stands for the Cardinals this season since 13-straight at home opened the season. LU went 6-1 in the first set.
Tickets to the home games can be purchased at LamarCardinals.com or fans can visit or call the Athletics ticket office in the Montagne Center at 409-880-1715.
