BEAUMONT, Texas - Closing out a 2019 season with plenty of highlights and a few tough moments, Lamar University (17-34, 8-19 SLC) will host the University of Central Arkansas (27-24, 17-10 SLC) this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at Vincent-Beck Stadium. The Cardinals will hope to play spoiler to the Bears' hopes of a regular season Southland Conference championship and will also honor their eight seniors on Saturday.

THE LAST TIME OUT - AT TCU - MAY 14

Lamar rode 10 hits and five Horned Frog errors Tuesday night for a 10-5 victory at Texas Christian University (28-22). The Cardinals struck out 10 and allowed just five earned runs on eight hits.
 
"After a pretty tough weekend and a lot of travel, I'm really proud of how the guys responded tonight," said head coach Will Davis. "It says a lot about the character of the kids we have in this program, and it was great to see them all get a win. It was a total team effort tonight."

UP NEXT - CENTRAL ARKANSAS - MAY 16-18

Probable Starters (Based on Assumptions by the SID):

Thursday: LHP Dylan Johnson (0-4, 5.59 ERA) vs. RHP Cody Davenport (5-4, 2.16 ERA)
Friday: LHP Jason Blanchard (5-4, 3.43 ERA) vs. LHP Noah Cameron (6-1, 2.67 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Ryan Erickson (2-5, 7.02 ERA) vs. TBA

Series Record
All-Time Series: Central Arkansas leads 15-13
In Southland Conference Play: Central Arkansas leads 14-13
At Vincent-Beck Stadium: Lamar leads 7-3
At Central Arkansas: Central Arkansas leads 12-6
At Neutral Site: N/A
Last 10 Years: Central Arkansas leads 13-9
Will Davis vs. Central Arkansas: First Meeting
Allen Gum vs. Lamar: 10-6
Last Meeting: May 25, 2016 (UCA wins 3-0 at SLC Tournament)

Central Arkansas is in its ninth season under skipper Allen Gum and has seen considerable success during that time including a school-record 42 wins and its first NCAA Division I Regional in 2013 and seven consecutive appearances in the Southland tournament. Gum earned his 500th career victory (Southern Arkansas and Central Arkansas) in the final game of UCA's sweep of Abilene Christian on May 12. He's earned a 274-229 overall record and a 139-129 mark in the SLC play at UCA including a 27-24 overall record in 2019 with a 17-10 record in the Southland. The Bears are tied with Southeastern Louisiana and Incarnate Word for second in the SLC heading into the final three games of the regular season.

The Bears average just 5.1 runs a game this year, 11th in the Southland, and hit .243 as a team, 12th in the league. They do tend to draw a lot of walks with 223 this year, the second-best mark in the SLC, but their 399 hits are 12th league-wide with just 20 homers. Sac bunts are a huge part of the offense though with 52 this season, the fourth-most in the NCAA, and sac flies are also a large cog in the UCA offense with 28 this season, the second-most among SLC teams.

The pitching staff is one of the strongest in the SLC with a team ERA of 3.65, trailing only Nicholls' 3.36 ERA. The Bears average 8.4 strikeouts a game and hold an impressive 3.09 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the sixth-best in the country. Central Arkansas has allowed just 2.72 walks per nine innings this year, trailing just UC Irvine among all 297 NCAA Division I schools.

Thursday's starter Cody Davenport has three complete games this year, the most in the SLC, and he holds a 2.16 ERA, the fourth-best mark among league starters. He paces the SLC with 13 starts in 2019 and has allowed about seven hits per nine innings, the fifth-best mark in the SLC. He's 5-4 this year. Friday's guy is Noah Cameron who holds a 6-1 record and a 2.67 ERA. He's got one complete game in 2019. Saturday's starter has not yet been announced.

Amongst qualifying hitters no Bears hitting .300 or better on the year though Josh Ragan is extremely close at .297. He's got 54 hits on the year to pace the team and also leads the Bears in doubles (16) and home runs (four).

Lamar Quick Hits

• Robin Adames needs just six more hits to capture the LU career record. He has 251 entering Thursday's game and is currently second all-time, passing Jerald Clark (242 hits, 1982-85) on April 28 at New Orleans. He also needs just 37 RBIs for the career RBI record and 12 more homers for the career home run record.
   
• JC Correa has been Lamar's best bat in the last 10 games with 19 hits, including two doubles and five homers. The junior from Santa Isabel, P.R., has scored seven runs and driven home 14 RBIs in that time with three strikeouts and a hit-by-pitch. He's slugging .783 and has a .426 OBP.
   
• Correa, Anthony Quirion (.361), Avery George (.326), and Cole Coker (.324) have hit .300 or better in the last 10 games and Cole Girouard (12), Logan Berlof (10), and Robin Adames (10) also have at least 10 hits in the last 10 games. The Cards are slugging .379 and hold a .328 on-base percentage with 104, 55 runs scored, and 50 RBIs.
   
• Adames, Jason Blanchard, Ryan Erickson, AbeRee Hiebert, Taylor Rich, Noah Sills, Austin Smith, and Kristjan Storrie are set to be honored by the team in a pre-game Senior Celebration in the final game of the year this Saturday.
   
• Dylan Johnson seems to be elevating his game when the Cardinals need him most. The freshman from Splendora, Texas, has a 1.08 ERA through his last four appearances, striking out five while allowing just seven hits and two walks in 8.1 innings of relief.

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