BEAUMONT, Texas - Flying roughly 2,200 miles on Thursday for a weekend series on the West Coast, Lamar University (16-31) will dip out of Southland Conference action on Friday for the first of three games at Gonzaga University (25-20). The Cardinals and Zags will meet for the fourth time in history and the first time in Washington state this weekend.

THE LAST TIME OUT - RICE - MAY 7

The Cardinals' game against Rice on May 7 was canceled with no scheduled makeup date due to inclement weather in the area. The game was delayed three times before cancellation, and fans can exchange tickets purchased for the game at any of the final three regular season home games this season.

UP NEXT - GONZAGA - MAY 10-12

Probable Starters (Based on Assumptions by the SID):

Friday: LHP Noah Sills (2-6, 3.91 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Trogrlic-Iverson (3-2, 4.81 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Jason Blanchard (5-3, 2.77 ERA) vs. LHP Mac Lardner (4-3, 5.56 ERA)
Sunday: LHP Grason Wright (2-4, 3.51 ERA) vs. TBA

Series Record
All-Time Series: Gonzaga leads 3-0
At Vincent-Beck Stadium: Gonzaga leads 2-0
At Patterson Baseball Complex: First Meeting
At Neutral Site: Gonzaga leads 1-0
Last 10 Years: Gonzaga leads 2-0
Will Davis vs. Gonzaga: N/A
Mark Machtolf vs. Lamar: 3-0
Last Meeting: February 25, 2012 (Gonzaga wins 6-5 at Lamar)

Mark Machtolf has been a fixture in Spokane for almost two decades, accruing close to 500 wins in that time. The 1987 Stanford graduate and member of the 1987 Cardinal College World Series team has led his Zags to three NCAA Regionals, including this past season, and has six conference championships or tournament championships in that time. This year Gonzaga is 25-20 and 16-8 in the West Coast Conference, which also includes another 2019 Lamar opponent, BYU. Gonzaga took two of three from the BYU Cougars and one of three at Texas A&M, the only other mutual opponent between the two schools. One of the Zags' most impressive wins this year came on April 30 when they took down #1 Oregon State, 6-3, in Corvallis, Oregon.

The Zags are one of the better hitting teams in the WCC with a .279 batting average and just one strikeout every 6.39 at-bats. They don't draw many walks though with just 148 on the year, but their 451 hits are the third-most in the league with 101 doubles (19th-most in the NCAA), 15 triples (39th in the NCAA), and 31 homers. Their pitching staff holds a 5.18 ERA, eighth in the WCC, and they average 7.0 strikeouts per nine innings while walking about four batters a game.

Troy Johnston paces the Zags with a .328 batting average and leads the team in doubles (23) and triples (two). Guthrie Morrison leads the team in hits with 62 and is also in the .300 batting club at .321, and Mason Marenco (.313) and Nick Nyquist (.311) are also swinging the bats well. Ernie Yake has 20 walks this year, the most of any Zag, and Austin Pinorini has been hit-by-pitch an astounding 15 times this year.

Starters for this weekend are Nick Trogrlic-Iverson and Mac Lardner with Sunday's to be announced later. Trogrlic has appeared in 23 games but started just four times and is 3-2 with a 4.81 ERA. Larnder is 4-3 this year in 10 appearances, all starts, and has 46 strikeouts this year to just 10 walks. Alex Jacob has appeared in 20 games and paces the team with a 2.31 ERA, and has struck out 69 batters, also the team lead.

Lamar Quick Hits

• Robin Adames needs just nine more hits to capture the LU career record. He has 248 entering Tuesday's game and is currently second all-time, passing Jerald Clark (242 hits, 1982-85) two weeks ago 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 leads the team and is sixth in the Southland in RBIs this year with 37, is second on the Cards and fifth in the SLC in hits with 64, and is tied for the team lead and tied for eighth in the SLC in homers this year with eight. He's hitting .320 on the year. Defensively he's assisted on 109 putouts, leading the team, and has 11 errors with a .954 fielding percentage.
   
• Avery George has been Lamar's hottest bat in the last 10 games. He's hitting .405 with 17 hits, all singles. The fleet-footed sophomore has scored 11 runs and driven in five RBIs in that span, and he's drawn seven walks while striking
  out just three times. He's 1-1 on stolen base opportunities as well, and had a 5-for-5 game against SLU on May 3.
   
• Lamar has out-hit its opponents 115-75 in the last 10 games with a .305 batting average to a .225 for its opponents. The Cards have scored 60 runs in that span to 52 for opponents but are 3-7 in the last 10. Avery George (.405), Cole Coker (.400), Correa (.380), Cole Girouard (.325), and Adames (.325) are all hitting .300 or better with Reese Durand at .294.
   
• Jason Blanchard has been lights out in his last three starts. He's worked a 2.95 ERA through 21.1 innings with 20 strikeouts to just five walks, allowing seven earned runs on 14 hits. His opponents have a .184 batting average against the senior from Kingwood, Texas, with two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. He's 2-0 in those three starts.
   
• Dylan Johnson seems to be elevating his game when the Cardinals need him most. The freshman from Splendora, Texas, has a 1.59 ERA through his last five appearances, striking out 12 while allowing just nine hits and two walks in 11.1 innings of relief.

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