BEAUMONT, Texas - Returning to the field for the final games of February, Lamar University baseball will host the University of Akron this weekend for a three-game series. First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. in Vincent-Beck Stadium and on YouTube.

Lamar vs. Akron - February 28-March 1 - Vincent-Beck Stadium

Probable Starters
Friday: LU RHP Trevin Michael (1-0, 1.38 ERA) vs. Akron RHP Taed Heydinger (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
Saturday: LU RHP Zach Bravo (0-0, 4.32 ERA) vs. Akron RHP Quinton Kujawa (0-1, 2.19 ERA)
Sunday: LU RHP Austin Faith (0-1, 15.00 ERA) vs. Akron LHP Jacob Clark (0-2, 6.23 ERA)

Series Record
All-Time Series: Tied 2-2 (last meeting in Starkville, Miss. - Lamar wins 1-0 on February 20, 2011)
Lamar vs. Akron at Vincent-Beck: Tied 1-1 (last meeting - Lamar wins 10-7 on March 3, 2008)
Lamar vs. Akron at Skeeles Field: N/A
Lamar vs. Akron at Neutral Site: Tied 1-1 (last on February 20, 2011)
Last 10 Games: N/A
Win Streak: Lamar won the last meeting
Last Lamar win: February 20, 2011
Last Matchup: February 20, 2011
Will Davis against Akron: First Meeting
Chris Sabo against Lamar: First Meeting

A Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer, former MLB All-Star Chris Sabo was named the head coach of the Akron Zips back in October of 2018, when the Zips announced the revival of baseball at the university. Sabo and his team had to sit out the 2019 season as they recruited and prepared, but Akron is now officially back in action in 2020. The Zips are 0-5 so far this season after tough one-run losses in both games of a doubleheader at home against Oakland and a sweep by Pepperdine in Malibu, California.

As a team, Akron ranks 11th in the MAC in batting average, hitting .137 with 21 total hits in five games. For comparison, Avery George and Kelby Weyler alone have combined for 26 hits in eight games. The Zips have 58 strikeouts to 18 walks, and are 1-for-5 in stolen base attempts. The pitching staff ranks fourth in the MAC with a 4.91 ERA through 44.0 innings pitched. The Zips' opponents are hitting at a .277 clip.

Lamar will face Taed Heydinger, Quinton Kujawa, and Jacob Clark this weekend. Heydinger has two starts on the year and has fanned eight in eight innings, Kujawa has the lowest ERA on the team at 2.19 and has pitched the most innings, and Clark gets his second start of the year on Sunday.

Brenton Phillips is pacing the Zips with a .278 batting average, and is followed by Austin Domer at .222. Bradley Goulet is hitting .176 with two runs scored.

The Last Time Out - UTSA - February 25

Taking a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning and tying the game in the seventh, a two-run eighth inning handed Lamar University (3-5) a close loss to the University of Texas-San Antonio (7-2) on Tuesday. The Cardinals dropped a 4-2 decision to the Roadrunners at home.

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).
   
• Three Cardinals are hitting over .300 currently including batting average leader Kelby Weyler (.419). The redshirt sophomore has had at least one hit in every game in 2020, and is tied with Avery George (.403) for the team lead in hits with 13. Weyler, George, and Reese Durand (.320, eight hits) each have five RBIs apiece. JC Correa is just under .300 at a .273 clip with nine hits, and Chase Kemp (.227, five hits) and Anthony Quirion (.188, six hits) are just a weekend away from cracking into the .300 club.
   
• The power bats of Chase Kemp and Anthony Quirion went to work in San Marcos this past weekend, collecting nine hits combined with four RBIs and four runs scored.
   
• Trevin Michael, Friday's starter, leads the SLC and is 45th in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings, averaging just 2.77 a game.
   
• Chase Kemp is first in the SLC and 23rd nationally in total walks this season with nine.
   
• JC Correa remains one of the toughest batters to strikeout in the nation, ranking 16th in the NCAA as the toughest to strikeout with just one strikeout every 33.0 at-bats.
   
• Kelby Weyler and Avery George are tied for third in the SLC in total hits this season with 13 apiece.
   
• Lamar is tied for third in the nation in total errors with just two this season. That's a significant improvement from 2019 where Lamar had 26 games with two or more errors. The Cards also rank third in the SLC in double plays turned with three this season.
   
• 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). In Lamar's game against UTSA, Coker, Girouard, and Secrest all started.
   
• 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.