BEAUMONT, Texas – With just 15 games left in the regular season Lamar University (13-27, 8-13 SLC) will hit the road Tuesday for the first of 12 consecutive games away from the friendly confines of Vincent-Beck Stadium. The Cardinals will play Tuesday at Louisiana State University and again Wednesday at Southern University, both in Baton Rouge, La.
 
The Last Time Out – Abilene Christian
 
Lamar stretched its win streak to six games with a 7-5 Friday win and a 5-0 shutout Saturday before 13 innings snapped that win streak in a 5-4 loss on Sunday. The Cardinals outscored the Wildcats 16-9 and out-hit ACU 35-26. Ryan Erickson stretched his scoreless streak to 13.1 innings while earning saves in the first and second games of the series and Cole Coker hit .500 (6-of-12) over three games.
 
Tanner Driskill improved to 3-0 as the Friday starter – his lone loss as a starter this year came on a Thursday – and Noah Sills returned to winning form in six shutout innings in which he struck out seven while walking none. Jack Dallas struck out a team season-high eight batters in the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th innings of Sunday's series finale.
 
Coker, Logan LeJeune (.455), Avery George (.400), Robin Adames (.333), Cole Girouard (.308), Grant DeVore (.308) all hit over .300 in the series.
 
Lamar vs. LSU
 
Series Record
All-Time Series: Tied 6-6
At Lamar: Lamar leads 3-0
At LSU: LSU leads 5-2
At Neutral Site: Tied 1-1
Coach Davis against LSU (his alma mater): 0-1
Coach Mainieri against Lamar: 5-1
 
Scheduled Starters:
Tuesday: RHP Jace Campbell (1-6, 4.39 ERA) vs. RHP AJ Labas (4-1, 3.96 ERA)
Wednesday: RHP Garrett Walker (0-0, 6.30 ERA) vs. TBA
 
Ranked as high as 16th in the nation, LSU has dropped out of the Top 25 rankings for the first time in 124 weeks after a four-game losing streak that started April 15 at Tulane (10-9) and carried through a three-game road series against South Carolina (11-0, 11-4, 8-6). Despite the recent trend the Tigers are still a formidable opponent; they're the 2017 College World Series runner-up and led by coaching legend Paul Mainieri; he's 536-219-3 in 12 seasons at LSU with a CWS title in 2009 and has made four other appearances in Omaha including the runner-up finish in 2017 to Florida.
 
LSU averages 6.0 runs per game while allowing 4.39 earned runs, and ranks third in its conference in stolen bases (46 on the year). Their 79 doubles this season rank sixth, and their 13 triples are second behind only Texas A&M's 15.
 
Senior catcher Nick Coomes is one of the hottest-hitting Tigers currently after going .500 (5-for-10) in four games last week with one three-run homer, two doubles, four RBIs, and two runs scored. He had a career-best 4-of-5 performance at Tulane. Antoine Duplantis is 11th in the SEC in batting average at .341 and leads his team with 56 hits, averaging 1.37 hits per game. He ranks eighth in the league in sac hits, and is the fifth-hardest SEC batter to strikeout with one strikeout every 10.3 at-bats.
 
Austin Bain (third, 13) and Daniel Cabrera (10th, 12) are both threats to hit doubles near the top of the SEC in the category and Hal Hughes is known for his ability to lay down a sac bunt (second in the SEC with eight this year).
 
Lamar vs. Southern
 
Series Record
All-Time Series: Lamar leads 7-1
At Lamar: Lamar leads 5-1
At Southern: Lamar leads 2-0
At Neutral Site: N/A
Coach Davis against Southern: 1-0
Coach Jackson against Lamar: First meeting
 
In its first season under Kerrick Jackson, a former MLB Certified Player Agent for the Boras Corporation, assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Missouri, and assistant head coach at Nicholls, Southern University has struggled a bit with an 8-26 record and just a 5-13 mark against SWAC opponents.
 
The Jaguars are first in the SWAC in double plays this year with 34 and lead the league in stolen bases per game, averaging an astounding 2.03 stolen bases a game. They average 5.3 runs a game while allowing 6.84 earned runs.
 
Javeayan Williams is third in the conference in walks with 26 bases-on-balls, and Franky Montesino is seventh in the nation in on-base percentage with an astounding .524. Tyler LaPorte is the ninth-hardest person to strikeout in the SWAC with just one strikeout per 9.1 at-bats.
 
News and Notes on Lamar
 
FRESHMEN FORCED INTO SIGNIFICANT ROLES
 
So far this season Lamar's freshmen batters have started 102 times in the lineup for Lamar, 78 more starts than opposing teams' freshmen have against the Cardinals; LU has faced just 24 freshmen all year.