BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University Cardinals look to maintain their dominance at home over Houston Baptist when they host the Huskies in a three-game Southland Conference series at the LU Softball Complex this weekend. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Friday and a single game at 3 p.m. Saturday.
 
The Cardinals are 9-0 at home against HBU, going 6-0 at Ford Park and 3-0 at the LU Softball Complex. The Huskies were the visitors in the very first game played at the stadium, as LU swept a doubleheader from HBU by scores of 11-0 and 4-2 on March 6, 2015. Overall, LU is 11-1 all-time against HBU. The Cardinals are 34-10 all-time at the LU Softball Complex.
 
The Cardinals (10-13 overall, 3-0 Southland) bring a four-game winning streak into the series. Last weekend, LU swept three games from Northwestern State in conference play. HBU (7-9, 0-3) has dropped four straight games, including being swept at Nicholls in three conference games last weekend.
 
"HBU is better than their record shows," LU coach Holly Bruder said. "They lost three games on the road to a very good Nicholls team. They have played some tough opponents and done well. There is no team in this conference that you can take for granted."
 
The Cardinals got three complete games last weekend from their pitching staff, with Ciara Luna tossing two of those, while Laura Napoli extended her school record with the 32^nd complete game of her career.
 
"Our pitching was just fantastic last weekend," Bruder said. "We're going to need that again this weekend to keep HBU off the bases. HBU isn't afraid to bunt in any situation with runners on. We're also going to need our infield defense to come up big."
 
Offensively, the Cardinals are led by junior center fielder Brittany Rodriguez, who is batting .427 with no home runs and four RBIs. Senior catcher Brynn Baca (.348/1/13) has reached base in 15 straight games, one shy of her career high. Senior left fielder Ashley McDowell (.289/1/8) enters the weekend with 93 career RBIs, one shy of the school record set by Jenna Holland. McDowell already holds the LU career marks for home runs (20), doubles (34) and total bases (270).
 
"We got plenty of runners on base last weekend, but we needed to do a better job of bringing them home," Bruder said. "We got away with leaving a school-record 15 runners in our 3-2 win over Northwestern State, but against the better teams you need to take advantage of those opportunities.
 
Luna (3-7, 3.01) and Napoli (4-6, 4.81) are expected to be Friday's starters. Freshman Anissa Rodriguez (2-0, 3.13) could see her first action in SLC play on Saturday.
 
The Huskies, who hit a respectable .287 as a team, have scored just two runs in their last four games, being shut out twice.  Heidi Jaquez (.365/0/9), Cecilia Bauer (.341/2/7) and Kassie James (.333/1/10) lead the HBU hitters. Right-handers Emily Mueller (3-6/3.48) and Stephanie Buenrostro (3-2/5.93) are HBU's projected starters.
 
PROMOTIONS: Fans attending Friday's game, will receive free T-shirts courtesy of FivePoint Credit Union, the weekend game sponsor, while supplies last. On Saturday, kids will be able to run the bases after the game. There will also be a postgame autograph session with the LU student-athletes.
 
UP NEXT: The Cardinals close their seven-game homestand by hosting UTSA in a non-conference game at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Next weekend, LU is at Stephen F. Austin for a three-game Southland Conference series.
 
TICKETS: For tickets for all LU home games, call 409-880-1715, or CLICK HERE. Tickets are also available at the LU ticket office, located in the Montagne Center, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Tickets will be available at the ticket window at the LU Softball Complex starting one hour prior to first pitch.