BEAUMONT, Texas - Jumping on the bus for the first time in 2020, Lamar University baseball will begin a four-game road trip Wednesday when the team travels to #22 University of Texas. First pitch between the Cardinals and Longhorns is set for 4 p.m. in UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Lamar at #22 Texas - February 19 - First Pitch at 4 pm - UFCU Disch-Falk Field

Probable Starters (Based on Assumptions by the SID):
LHP Josh Hranicky (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBA

Series Record
All-Time Series: Texas leads 34-7
Lamar vs. Texas at Vincent-Beck: Lamar leads 2-0 (last meeting - Lamar wins 15-3 on March 27, 1994)
Lamar vs. Texas at UFCU Disch-Falk Field: Texas leads 33-5 (last meeting - Texas wins 7-2 on April 16, 2019)
Lamar vs. Texas at Neutral Site: Texas leads 1-0 (last meeting - Texas wins 3-2 at NCAA Regional in Arlington, Texas, on May 8, 1976)
Last 10 Games: Texas leads 7-3
Win Streak: Texas has won the last three meetings
Last Lamar win: March 29, 2016 - Lamar wins 4-2 at Texas
Last Matchup: April 16, 2019 - Texas wins 7-2 at Texas
Will Davis against Texas: 0-3
David Pierce against Lamar: 7-6 (4-6 at Sam Houston State, 3-0 at Texas)

David Pierce is three games into his fourth season as head coach of the Texas Longhorns, and has 108-74 overall record with a 35-35 mark in the Big 12 in that time. Texas opened this season with slightly lowered expectations for a UT ball club after finishing last in the Big 12 in 2019, but the Horns are now ranked #22 after sweeping Rice this past weekend (7-4, 4-0, and 5-4). It was the first time Texas has opened the season with a series sweep since 2009, the year Texas finished the season as the runner-up in the College World Series and held a 50-16-1 record. Texas will host UTSA on Tuesday, then Lamar on Wednesday, Boise State this upcoming weekend, and Sam Houston State on Feb. 25 as part of a six-game homestand before playing in the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park.

Three junior college transfers and 13 freshmen make up the 2020 Texas roster, joining 17 letter winners from the 2019 squad. Trey Faltine, Brenden Dixon, and Douglas Hodo III all started in each game for Texas, and each of them started their respective careers with home runs as their first collegiate hits. Murphy Stehly made his debut at D1 after playing JuCo ball in 2019, and three new faces saw time on the mound - Dawson Merryman (JuCo), Pete Hansen (freshman), and Andre Duplantier II (freshman). Bryce Elder returns as the pitching staff's ace and an unanimous All-Big 12 team selection, and offensive leader Eric Kennedy is back in the outfield as a All-Big 12 preseason member.

The Last Time Out - Rhode Island (Feb. 14-16)

Lamar was dominant on Friday (7-3) and Saturday (8-2) in big wins over Rhode Island, and almost completed a late-inning rally against the Rams in the series finale before ultimately dropping Sunday's game 4-2.

Trevin Michael had a perfect game through four and a third innings on Friday, and on a normal day in Vincent-Beck Stadium might have been untouched all day. The only two hits he surrendered were both solo home runs that carried in an unusually strong wind just over the right field wall. He struck out 10 Rams while walking none and allowing just two hits and two earned runs.

Kelby Weyler exploded for seven hits including a double and a triple, driving in four runs and scoring another. He had at least two hits in each game.

JC Correa had three hits on Friday and four hits on Saturday, scoring four runs and driving home two RBIs. Weyler and Correa are tied for the team lead and tied for third in the SLC for total hits so far in 2020.

Up Next

Lamar concludes its road trip with a three-game series at Texas State on Feb. 21-23. The Bobcats are another tough team on the docket, returning most of a 2019 Sun Belt Conference championship roster. UTSA comes to town on Feb. 25, and a three-game home series against Akron (Feb. 28-Mar. 1) closes out the first month of the 2020 season for Big Red.

Lamar Quick Hits

• Lamar returns 672 starts in its lineup in 2020, the most in the Southland Conference. The next closest team, UIW, returns 548, and is followed by A&M-Corpus Christi (540), McNeese (497), Northwestern State (451), New Orleans (426), Nicholls (418), Central Arkansas (362), Houston Baptist (336), SFA (300), Sam Houston (257), SLU (253), and ACU (211).
   
• Lamar is one of just 13 teams in NCAA Division 1 that have no errors so far in 2020. Of those teams, only East Carolina (87) had more putouts than the Cardinals. Big Red (81) tied with UCLA, Portland, Arkansas State, and UC Davis for second-most putouts without an error. Last season Lamar had three errors in its first series, and 26 games with two or more errors.
   
• Lamar has had three Coles (Coker, Girouard, and Secrest) on the roster since the 2018 season, and Cole Marler is redshirting with the team in 2020. The Cards also have two Zachs (Sweet and Bravo), two Reec(s)es (Reese Durand and Reece Kemp), two Braxtons (Boudoin and Douthit), two Logans (LeJeune and Berlof), and two Kemps (Reece and Chase).
   
• Lamar was picked to finish 12th in the 13-team Southland Conference by both the coach/SID combined poll and by Perfect Game, and finished 10th in the D1Baseball poll. In 2019 the team predicted to finish in 12th place, Stephen F. Austin, finished sixth instead with a 1-2 mark in the SLC tournament, winning its first game against #3 Southeastern Louisiana before being eliminated in the next two games. Lamar was picked to finish anywhere between fifth and seventh  place by D1Baseball, Perfect Game, and the SLC in 2019.