BEAUMONT, Texas - Heading into Southland Conference play with a winning record, one of the best defenses in the country, a great pitching staff, and a lineup that's starting to click, Lamar University (7-5, 0-0 SLC) will head to Stephen F. Austin (3-10, 0-0 SLC) on Friday looking to open the SLC season strong. The Cardinals will meet the Lumberjacks for the 90th time this weekend with Big Red holding a 66-23 advantage overall and a 26-12 lead at SFA's Jaycees Field.

Lamar at Stephen F. Austin - March 5-7 - Jaycees Field

Probable Starters
Friday - Lamar's RHP Trevin Michael (2-0, 2.05 ERA) vs. LHP Angelo Gennari (0-1, 2.93 ERA)
Saturday - Lamar's RHP Zach Bravo (1-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. RHP Joe Todd (1-1, 3.00 ERA)
Sunday - Lamar's RHP Austin Faith (0-1, 9.28 ERA) vs. LHP Jacob Stobart (0-2, 8.78 ERA)

Series Record
All-Time Series: Lamar leads 66-23 (last meeting - SFA wins 5-3 in Beaumont on March 10, 2019)
Lamar vs. Stephen F. Austin at Vincent-Beck Stadium: Lamar leads 40-9 (last meeting - March 10, 2019)
Lamar vs. Stephen F. Austin at Jaycees Field: Lamar leads 26-12 (last meeting - SFA wins 4-2 on May 13, 2018)
Lamar vs. Stephen F. Austin at Neutral Site: SFA leads 2-0 (last meeting - SFA wins 5-2 on May 26, 2016 at SLC Tournament in Sugar Land, Texas - Jim Gilligan's final game)
Last 10 Games: SFA leads 6-4
Win Streak: SFA has won the last four
Last Lamar Win: May 12, 2018 - Lamar wins 7-3 in Nacogdoches, Texas
Last Stephen F. Austin Win: March 10, 2019
Last Matchup: March 10, 2019
Will Davis against SFA: 4-5
Johnny Cardenas against Lamar: 16-19

Partially throug his 12th season as the head coach of Stephen F. Austin, Johnny Cardenas is 289-343 all-time with a 163-173 mark in SLC play. He does have over two-thirds of SFA's 23 wins against Lamar with a 16-19 record against Big Red. This season SFA is 3-10 with a season-opening win at Arkansas State and two wins over SIU-Edwardsville.

The Lumberjacks rank at or near the bottom of the Southland Conference in several stats categories including batting average (.206, 13th), ERA (6.81, 12th), and fielding percentage (0.959, 10th). Home runs are a big part of the Jack offense though with eight moonshots in 2020, the second-most in the SLC. Their strikeouts-to-walks ratio of 9.3 is the fourth-best among SLC pitching staffs, and SFA's 56 walks this season are the fifth-best among conference bats.

Jared Martin paces the team offensively with a .325 average and 13 hits, and Skylar Black ranks first in the league in home runs (three) and seventh in RBIs (12). Martin, Black, Jake Zarrello, and Kyle Cullen each have six walks this year and Dillon Eastman, Carson Clowers, and Cal Martin have another five apiece. The Lumberjacks have just five stolen bases in eight attempts.

Twelve Lumberjacks have at least one error on the year with Clowers pacing the team with three, but SFA has also turned 14 double-plays in 2020. Black has caught five of the 10 runners who have tried to steal on him, and the other Jack catcher, Zarrello, has given up five while catching none.

Angelo Gennari, Joe Todd, and Jacob Stobart are expected to start for Stephen F. Austin this weekend. Gennari is the team's leader in starting ERA with a 2.93, and Todd has an 8.00 strikeouts-to-walks ratio, the seventh-best mark in the league. Stobart has a deceptively high ERA, and pitched decently in his previous matchup against Lamar back in 2019 when he allowed two earned runs on four hits and no walks. In addition to the starters, Raygan Dodd will almost certainly make at least one appearance for the Jacks with a team-leading seven appearances already, and Tod Gauthe already has two saves in his three appearances out of the bullpen.

The Last Time Out - Prairie View A&M - March 4 - Lamar wins 12-1

Heading into Southland Conference play with a pretty big confidence builder, Lamar University (7-5) demolished Prairie View A&M (2-12) on Wednesday. The Cardinals outhit the Panthers 17-2 to win the mid-week contest by a score of 12-1.

Big Red Quick Hits

• Lamar has had just four errors in its first 12 games combined. Last season Lamar had three errors in its first series, and 26 games with two or more errors. This year LU ranks third in the NCAA and first in the SLC in fielding percentage at 0.990. Duke, the NCAA leader is fielding at 0.991 with four errors. Only Penn (one error in three games) and Columbia (two errors in four games) have fewer errors than Lamar this season.
   
• Avery George (.400) and Kelby Weyler (.341) continue to pace Lamar atop the batting average category, and Anthony Quirion (.340) rocketed into the .300 club with a 5-for-5 performance against PVAMU on March 4. George has 20 hits so far this year with at least one in each of the last 11 games, and Quirion (16), Weyler (15), Durand (11), JC Correa (11), and Chase Kemp all have double-digit hits. George ranks second in the SLC and 32nd nationally in hits, and second in the SLC and 42nd nationally in hits per game (1.67).
   
• 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).
   
• Trevin Michael, Friday's starter, leads the SLC and is 22nd in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings, averaging just 3.27 a game.
   
• Chase Kemp is first in the SLC and 19th nationally in total walks this season with 13.
   
• JC Correa remains one of the toughest batters to strikeout in the nation, ranking 3rd in the SLC as the toughest to strikeout with just one strikeout every 11.8 at-bats.
   
• 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.