BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University baseball opens a crammed week on Tuesday when it hosts Grambling in non-conference action at 4 p.m. as the first of four contests in five days, all at Vincent-Beck Stadium. The week wraps up with a Southland Conference series against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi that starts at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Fans who drop off their business cards at Tuesday's game against the Tigers (11-20) will be given $3 general admission tickets. The series against the Islanders (13-20, 5-7 Southland) is sponsored AT&T, and Friday's game will be Cancer Awareness Night. Lamar Athletics will put on an Egg Hunt after Saturday afternoon's contest for all children in attendance.
Grambling heads in after a series win over Southwestern Athletic Conference rival Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but fell 13-2 in its last midweek game at LSU, who the Cardinals face a week from Tuesday. The Tigers are 0-5 in midweek games on the season, including a loss to Southland program Stephen F. Austin.
As a team, the offensive unit is hitting at a .240 clip and averages 4.8 runs per game. It has 50 extra base hits – 36 doubles, three triples and 11 homers – on the year. Marshawn Taylor paces the Tigers with a .347 batting average in 121 at-bats on the season. He's scored 27 runs and driven in 12.
As a pitching staff, the Tigers hold a 6.76 earned run average in 258.1 innings of work. They've allowed 244 runs overall – 194 earned – with 185 strikeouts and 144 walks.
Neither team has announced a starter for Tuesday's contest.
The Cardinals take the field after a series loss on the road to New Orleans. LU's bats enter with a team .282 batting average and 202 runs (6.1 per game). They have 96 extra base hits on 36 doubles, three triples and 30 home runs – including two from
Brendan Satran and
Trey Silvers in their last outing.
Robin Adames continues to lead the way in batting average at .372 and is one RBI shy of a share of the lead behind
Reid Russell's – hitting .350 – 29. Russell has scored 30 runs for the second time in two seasons, and is only behind
Cutter McDowell's 31. McDowell is hitting .347 with 20 RBI.
The Cardinal pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.81 in 288.0 innings of work with 122 earned runs given up and 243 strikeouts.
The Islanders roll in to The Beck on Thursday with a team batting average of .278, led by .330 from Brett Burner. Dalton Stark has a .307 average, followed by .302 from Cullen Jazwiak, and Dawson Yates nears the .300 threshold at .296. Nick Anderson has the group lead with 23 RBI and 21 runs. The team has 47 doubles, 11 triples and 13 home runs.
The AMCC pitching staff has a 6.03 team ERA in 288 innings of work. It's given up 193 earned runs and stuck out 244 batters. Though neither team has announced its rotation for the weekend, Devin Skapura, Cole Carter and Dustin Lacaze have been a part of the group in the last two weekends.
Skapura (1-3, 5.91 ERA) pitched the Friday night contest against New Orleans but was the Sunday starter against Southeastern Louisiana. He has a team-best 45 ? innings with 30 earned runs allowed and 32 strikeouts to just 12 walks. Carter (3-3, 6.45) was the middle game starter for both series, and has pitched 44 ? frames. The right-hander has allowed 32 earned runs and struck out 35. Lacaze – who only has three starts on the season – worked in both series as a starter. He's pitched 22.0 innings with 14 earned runs and eight strikeouts.
The series with Corpus Christi ends a four-game homestand before another four-game road swing that has the Cardinals at LSU in non-conference action
