BEAUMONT, Texas - Back in town after a four-game road trip, Lamar University (9-15, 2-7 SLC) will get to enjoy the friendly confines of Vincent-Beck Stadium for the next five games, including a three-game Southland Conference series against Nicholls State University (13-13, 5-4 SLC) this weekend. First pitch between the Cardinals and Colonels is set for 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

PROMOTIONS

Friday
-Jr. Cardinals get in FREE with membership badge
-$1 Hotdogs + $2 Popcorn tubs all season long

Saturday
-Jr. Cardinals get in FREE with membership badge
-$1 Hotdogs + $2 Popcorn tubs all season long

Sunday
-Jr. Cardinals get in FREE with membership badge
-$1 Hotdogs + $2 Popcorn tubs all season long
-12 year olds and under get in FREE
-5Point Credit Union Post Game Run the Bases
-Inflatables for the kids

THE LAST TIME OUT - AT #11 TEXAS A&M

Lamar hung with #11 Texas A&M (22-5) through most of Tuesday's mid-week matchup at Blue Bell Park, outhitting the Aggies 6-3 through the first three innings. Jorge Gutierrez homered in his return to Aggieland to pull Lamar within two runs, and a four-run rally in the ninth came up just short as Big Red fell 10-7.

THIS WEEKEND - NICHOLLS STATE UNIVERSITY

Starters:
Friday: LHP Noah Sills (1-3, 2.88 ERA) vs. RHP Trever Kilcrease (1-1, 4.55 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Jason Blanchard (2-3, 2.43 ERA) vs. RHP Jacob Bedevian (2-1, 3.12 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Grason Wright (1-2, 5.30 ERA) vs. LHP Shane Mejia (4-0, 2.51 ERA)

Series Record
All-Time Series: Lamar leads 60-41-2
In Southland Conference Games: Lamar leads 33-20
At Vincent-Beck Stadium: Lamar leads 37-21-1
At Ray E. Didier Field: Lamar 23-20-1
At Neutral Site: 0-0
Will Davis vs. Nicholls: 2-4
Seth Thibodeaux vs. Lamar: 10-12
Last Meeting: April 29, 2018 (Nicholls wins 5-2 and series 2-1)

Seth Thibodeaux is in his ninth season as the head coach of the Nicholls Colonels and holds a 242-233 overall record there with a 124-126 mark in Southland play. He's got his Colonels at 13-13 this season and 5-4 in SLC action, and is looking for a second consecutive trip to the SLC tournament. Nicholls has series wins over Southern Illinois, Grambling, New Orleans, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Colonels lost their series at Central Arkansas, barely dropped a 10-inning game at LSU, and had losses at McNeese, against Holy Cross, and at home against Tulane.

In conference play Nicholls ranks 10th among SLC team in batting average, hitting .229 through nine games. The Colonels also rank 10th in slugging percentage (.304) and on-base percentage (.297) and eighth in runs scored (33, averaging 3.7 runs per game). Just two Colonels have a hit a home run against Southland opponents, and Nicholls has 28 RBIs this year (eighth in SLC). The Colonels have struck out 74 times against SLC pitchers (fourth-highest in the league) while drawing 22 walks (tied-eighth), and an aggressive approach on the bases has Nicholls with 11 stolen bases (tied third) in 12 attempts (tied fourth). Their seven double plays turned against Nicholls runners leads the league.

Pitching has been a real strength for Nicholls so far in SLC play. The Colonels rank second in the league in ERA with a 2.35 and hold a .210 opposing batting average, the third-best in the conference. 67 strikeouts is tied for fifth in the league and their staff has allowed just 26 runs, the fifth-best margin in the league. Walks have been a problem though with 39 free bases allowed, near the bottom of the conference. Nicholls is the only team in the conference that has not yet allowed a home run to SLC teams.

Chris Sandberg is hitting .333 in SLC play with six hits, including a double, and two RBIs. He's struck out twice while not drawing a walk and is 1-1 in stolen bases attempts. Dane Simon (.310), Brady Bell (.281) and Ethan Valdez (.257) are tied for the team lead in SLC hits with nine apiece, and Simon and Champ Davison each have three steals.

Shane Mejia (Sunday's starter) has the 10th-best ERA in SLC games this year with a 1.17 against Southland opponents. Trever Kilcrease (Friday's starter) has 16 strikeouts of SLC batters, the 10th-best mark in the conference with a .177 opposing batting average (fifth-best in the SLC), and Jacob Bedevian (Saturday's starter) has allowed four sac flies this year to SLC batters, the most allowed by any conference pitcher. Tyler Theriot (1-0, 0.00 ERA through five appearances), Brandon Andrews (0-1, 1.29 ERA through five appearnces), and Zach Autin (0-1, 2.08 ERA through six appearances) have been commanding from the bullpen and could all make appearances against the Cardinals.

Lamar Quick Hits

• Douglas Palmer, a redshirt in 2018, is off to a hot start with the Cardinals. He ranks second in all of NCAA Division I baseball in lead-off out percentage, getting the out in 93.33% of all opportunities. He trails only Austin Miller at Ole Miss.
   
• Cole Girouard loves hitting against teams from the state of Louisiana. He has a career .372 batting average against Louisiana teams with 32 hits including six doubles, a triple, and a home run. One of his best games came at Southern in 2018 when he went 5-for-7 with four runs scored and three RBIs. Against Nicholls in 2018 he hit .385 with three RBIs, a walk, and two strikeouts.
   
• Robin Adames needs just 35 more hits to capture the LU career record. He has 222 entering Friday's game. He also needs just 50 RBIs for the career RBI record and 15 more homers for the career home run record.
   
• Noah Sills wowed in his last start with a career-tying eight strikeouts in just six and a third innings. He held a .130 opposing batting average with no walks, no wild pitches, and no hit batters and had a perfect game through three innings.