season, starting at Northwestern State for two games at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in non-conference action at Brown-Stroud Field, before a big weekend matchup with Houston Baptist.
 
The Cardinals (15-10, 4-5 Southland) and Demons (6-16, 2-4) opened a three-game series last week with at 12-6 Big Red win. LU used a big seven-run first inning to help its cause, but was able to answer the Demons every time they scored.
 
Cutter McDowell – who has been on a tear in the last 10 contests – and Robin Adames carried the heavy hands in the game, each going 3-for-5. McDowell drove in four runs on three doubles in the game and Adames pushed across three and scored two runs more.
 
Every Cardinal starter contributed with at least one base knock in the 15-hit contest. Phil Ingram was 1-for-1 with three runs scored from the eighth spot. Reigning Southland Conference Hitter of the Week Chad Fleischman, Trey Silvers, Mitch Andrews and Cole Coker all added one hit apiece. Nine of Big Red's runs were scored with two outs.
 
McDowell is on a 10-game hit streak, second-longest active streak on the team, and in those games he is hitting .462 (18-of-39) with eight runs scored and 14 driven in. He is slugging at .795 during his streak with 10 doubles and a home run.
 
Fleischman was announced as the hitter of the week Monday afternoon after his 9-of-17 week with seven RBI and two runs scored. He slugged at a .941 clip with four doubles and a home run - a walk-off bomb that gave LU the win in the second game against Incarnate Word.
 
The Cardinals will send out Brett Brown (0-0, 2.87 earned run average) for his third start of the season Tuesday, all in midweek action. Brown has worked 15.2 innings, 13.2 of those out of the bullpen, with five runs allowed. The senior has walked 11 batters and struck out 18.
 
Right-hander Time Winders (0-2, 8.31) will face Brown in game one. Winders pitched against LU in the first game of the series and gave up two runs in two innings. On the year he's worked seven outings and 13 innings. The Demons will throw out Austin Reich (0-1, 67.50) Wednesday. He's pitched only 2/3 of an inning, against nationally-ranked Oklahoma State. The sophomore worked against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, but did not record an out.
 
Lamar has not announced its starter for Wednesday.
 
Once that series has concluded, the Cardinals will to return home to Vincent-Beck Stadium for another big Southland Conference weekend against Houston Baptist (11-11, 3-3). Both teams enter after sweeping opponents at home, HBU against Southeastern Louisiana and LU against Incarnate Word.
 
The Cardinals will look to keep their hot streak of seven-straight wins at home going.
 
Houston Baptist – which has no midweek game during the week – is eighth in the league with a .267 team batting average and scores at a 5.1 runs per game clip. It is second in ERA at 3.63 on the mound.
 
Spencer Halloran is the top hitting Husky at .376, 11^th in the league, and has a team-best 19 runs batted in, 24 runs scored, and three home run. Zane Otten follows with a .364 average, and Jake Pulcheon and Tyler Depreta-Johnson narrowly miss the .300 threshold at .292.
 
Neither team has announced its starting rotation for the weekend, but HBU has stuck with its group of Christian Thames (3-1, 2.79), Zach Carter (4-2, 2.95) and Addison Russ (0-2, 3.12) for most of the season.
 
Thames held the Lions scoreless for eight innings Saturday. He's worked 38.2 innings – most on the team – with 12 earned runs allowed and 21 strikeouts. Carter has worked 36.2 innings with 12 earned runs allowed and Russ has 12 earned runs allowed in 34.2 innings. Both Carter and Russ each have 21 strikeouts.
 
The Voice of the Cardinals Harold Man will carry Friday's and Sunday's game on KLVI 560AM as well as on BigRedSN.com (all games).
 
Sunday's game is the final of seven of nine contests hosted at Vincent-Beck Stadium. Once concluded, the Cardinals will play four-straight on the road at Baylor and New Orleans.