BEAUMONT, Texas - With just three Southland Conference series left on the schedule, Lamar University (14-27, 6-15 SLC) heads back to the Bayou State on Friday for the tail end of its nine-game road trip. The Cardinals will play at New Orleans (19-22, 5-13 SLC) this weekend in their final road SLC series of the year.

THE LAST TIME OUT - AT #9 LSU - APRIL 23

Lamar came within inches Tuesday in a mid-week showdown at #9 Louisiana State University (27-15) but ultimately fell 5-3 to the Tigers at Alex Box Stadium.

Starter Jack Dallas was largely untouchable through four innings of work, facing the minimum in the first, third, and fourth innings. His only blemish came in the second. The Tigers barely out-ran a 4-6-3 double play to keep the inning alive and then hit a three-run homer two at-bats later, putting LSU up 3-0. Relievers Marcus Olivarez, Dylan Johnson, Kristjan Storrie, and Ryan Erickson combined for just one more hit, two earned runs, two walks, and four strikeouts in the final four innings, shutting down the Tigers altogether in the last three innings.

A Robin Adames homer in the fifth, two singles in the sixth, and a two-out, based loaded hit-by-pitch of Anthony Quirion in the ninth scored three for Lamar.

UP NEXT - AT NEW ORLEANS - APRIL 26-28

Probable Starters (Based on Assumptions by the SID):

Friday: LHP Noah Sills (2-6, 4.01 ERA) vs. RHP Bailey Holstein (1-2, 5.36 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Jason Blanchard (4-3, 2.54 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Turpin (4-3, 3.23 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Grason Wright (2-4, 3.27 ERA) vs. RHP Steven Swift (1-2, 9.39 ERA)

Series Record
All-Time Series: New Orleans leads 54-47
Southland Conference Play: Tied 26-26
At Vincent-Beck Stadium: Lamar leads 27-26
At Maestri Field: New Orleans leads 26-19
At Neutral Site: New Orleans leads 2-1
Last 10 Years: Lamar leads 11-4
Will Davis vs. New Orleans: 2-4
Blake Dean vs. Lamar: 4-5
Last Meeting: April 8, 2018 (New Orleans wins 2-0 in 12 innings)

Blake Dean is in his fourth year as the head coach of the New Orleans Privateers. He's gone 109-108-1 in that time with a 49-59 record in Southland Conference play and a runner up finish in the 2018 SLC Tournament. This year the Privateers have struggled in SLC play with a 5-13 record against league opponents but are 15-9 in non-conference games.

New Orleans has drawn 191 walks this year, the most in the SLC, but has a .251 batting average, which ranks 11th out of 13 teams. Their 343 hits are the eighth-best in the Southland and their 25 homers are also eighth-best.

Pitching has been a bit of a struggle with a staff ERA of 5.88. UNO is averaging 1.9 strikeouts to every walk and averages 7.6 strikeouts per game while allowing 10.16 hits per game.

Gaige Howard is tied for the team lead in hits with 47 and is the only Privateer hitting over .300 with a .346 batting average. He's got eight doubles, a triple, and a homer this year. Pearce Howard paces the team in homers with five and Luther Woullard has the team RBI lead with 26. Salo Iza has drawn 29 walks this year, leading the Southland Conference.

Starter Chris Turpin is the Saturday starter and has thrown almost 20 more innings than anyone else on the team. His 47 strikeouts is the most on the team. Bailey Holstein is on the mound Friday with 25 earned runs allowed in 42 innings, and Sunday's guy will be Steven Swift who has a 9.39 ERA through 23 innings. Reeves Martin and Mathew Oset have each made 22 appearances; Martin is 3-0 with 11 saves and a 1.04 ERA and Oset is 5-1 with no saves and a 3.58 ERA.

Lamar Quick Hits

• Logan Berlof has been Lamar's best bat in the last 10 games. He has 14 of his 35 hits on the year in the last 10 games and is hitting at a .400 clip. He's scored nine runs and driven in another six during that time with three walks, two hits-by-pitch, two homers, and five strikeouts.
   
• Robin Adames needs just 16 more hits to capture the LU career record. He has 241 entering Friday's game. He also needs just 43 RBIs for the career RBI record and 13 more homers for the career home run record.
   
• JC Correa has wowed at short and at the plate. The junior transfer from Alvin Community College has a .308 batting average, third on the team among qualifying batters, and leads the team in RBIs with 29. In his last 10 games he has seven RBIs with 15 hits. He's homered five times this year and had an 18-game reached base streak snapped at LSU on April 23.
   
• Avery George is fourth in the Southland Conference and 66th in the NCAA this year with 56 hits so far. He was riding a 20-game hit streak from Feb. 16 through March 22 and tied the school record for the reached-base streak at 32 games, and had a 13-game hitting streak snapped at Texas on April 16 and has reached base 18 games in a row.
   
• Jason Blanchard has been lights out in his last three starts. He's held a 3.20 ERA through 19.2 innings with just 18 hits allowed and has struck out 18 while walking five. One of his best performances of the year came at ACU on April 19 when he threw 107 pitches in seven innings, tying his career-best with eight strikeouts. He allowed just three hits while walking two and his lone earned run came on a fly ball that rode the wind and turned into a solo homer.
   
• Kristjan Storrie, Dylan Johnson, and Ryan Erickson have been almost untouchable in their last few outings. The bullpen trio has combined for 14 innings of six-hit, one earned run baseball with 17 strikeouts, three wild pitches, and one hit-by-pitch. That's a 0.64 combined ERA.

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