AUSTIN, Texas – For the first time in the 2017 season, the Lamar University Baseball squad will hit the road for its first midweek contest when the Cardinals head to UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas for a 6:30 p.m. battle against Texas that can be seen on the Longhorn Network.
The Voice of the Cardinals Harold Mann will also have the call from Austin on KLVI 560AM. The LHN broadcast can be found on channel 667 on DirectTV, 383 on Spectrum and 407 on Dish. Lowell Galindo, Keith Moreland and Greg Swindell will have the call.
The Cardinals (6-2) head in after they split a four-game series with reigning MAAC Champion Fairfield, and the Longhorns (5-3) took a three-game set from UConn in Texas. It's Texas' second midweek game of the season. It defeated the Southland Conference's Sam Houston State 7-2 in Huntsville.
Last season, the Cardinals defeated the Horns while on their 15-game win streak on a ninth-inning single from
Jake Nash that scored two and broke a 2-2 tie. Closer
Jimmy Johnson was awarded the win. The Longhorns hold a 7-31 record over Lamar all-time.
Big Red will start with senior
Brett Brown (0-0, 2.08 earned run average) on the hill. It'll be his first start of the season and first since he was a freshman against Houston Baptist in 2013. Texas is expected to throw right hander Connor Mayes (0-1, 5.40). He has one appearance, a five inning contest against Rice in which he allowed three runs on four hits and two walks. UT fell in two of three contests to Owls.
Texas has two hitters batting over .300 on the season, led by Kacy Clemens at .417. The infielder has a team-high three home runs, seven runs batted in and 10 runs scored. Bret Boswell is hitting .333 with three runs scored another two knocked in.
UT is under the direction of a new head coach for the first time since 1997. The new skipper, David Pierce, is the former coach of Southland Conference rival Sam Houston State.
Much like UT's Clemens,
Reid Russell is the Triple Crown leader for the Cardinals on a .414 average with 10 RBI and two long balls. Three other Cardinals are hitting at least .300,
Bryndan Arredondo (.387),
Robin Adames (.379) and
Trey Silvers (.300).
Tuesday's game is the first of a four-game road swing that ends in Edinburg at UT Rio Grande Valley for a three-game set. That first game is slated for Friday at 7 p.m.
New-look lineup
• During the Fairfield series, head coach
Will Davis shuffled the top of the lineup, mostly moving
Cutter McDowell from the second slot to the leadoff and
Bryndan Arredondo from the six-hole to the No. 2 spot. During the three games, LU scored 26 runs and hit for a .364 batting average.
• The top five of the order - McDowell, Arredondo,
Trey Silvers,
Reid Russell and
Robin Adames - hasn't changed in the three games. Collectively, they've had a .414 batting average with 19 runs and eight driven in. They've added nine walks among them.
• The biggest beneficiaries have been McDowell and Silvers. McDowell has a .416 average and five runs in the span while Silvers has a .456 mark with six runs and three RBI.
• Russell has a .545 batting average in the three games.
Jumping to an early lead
• In the first eight games, the Cardinals veteran lineup has found a way to get runs in early.
• LU has scored 13 runs in the first inning, 12 more than it has allowed. The 13 runs in the first is more than any other frame, followed by 10 in the eighth.
• The Cardinal have scored in the first inning in five contests, going 4-1 in those games. It's scored first in six, going 5-1. The one loss for both was the series opener to Fairfield, which was turned by an incident with the first base umpire.
Contributions from the Freshmen
• Lamar has looked to few freshman to contribute already during the 2017 season, including two starts to West-Orange native
Payton Robertson.
• Robertson is one of two freshman to be called on to offer an at-bat this season, and is 2-for-8 to start. In the first start he earned, he was 2-of-5 with a two-run double.
•
Cole Coker has also taken advantage of his opportunities. He was called on as a pinch-hitter in the fourth inning of LU's last game, and he finished with two hits in three at-bats.
•
Nathan Gabryszwski has been called on to pitch in three games this season, including one start. Though he looked good in his start, he was tagged with the loss on a shaky defense. He's pitched 6.1 innings with a 2.84 earned run average.
Staying patient at the plate
• LU's walk-to-strikeout ratio has drastically improved from where it was in 2016 season. Through the first eight games thisyear, the Cardinals have collected 43 total walks, 15 more than through eight games in 2016.
• It took 11 games to get to 43 last season, and through those contests Big Red had racked up 73 strikeouts 25 more than this season.
• LU drew nine walks in the game against Illinois, which was the most it had taken in nearly two years.
