BEAUMONT, Texas – After getting an unexpected week off, due to positive COVID test results within the Sam Houston program, the Lamar University baseball team will be back in action Friday when they open a four-game series against A&M-Corpus Christi. The series is set for one game Friday (6:30 p.m.), a twin bill on Saturday (1 and 4 p.m.) with the series finale Sunday (1 p.m.).
 
The Cardinals (17-13/9-11 Southland) enter the week in ninth place in the Southland standings, just two games back of Nicholls, but due to the many cancellations/postponements within the league related to COVID the conference has switched to a point system (similar to the one used for basketball) to determine conference standings. The Cardinals are just two points back of eighth-place Nicholls under the point system.
 
It has been a tough stretch for the Red and White, but it has more to do with last minute schedule changes than performances on the field. Prior to last week's cancellations, the Cardinals have faced rain outs on Friday nights forcing the Cardinals to play Saturday and Sunday doubleheaders in the two previous weeks.
 
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi enters the week with a 16-24 (.400) overall record, but a game over .500 in league play (12-11/.522), and currently sit seventh in the league standings with 37 points – just six up on LU. The Islanders have been on fire lately winning 10 of their last 13 games, with only two of those losses during that stretch coming in Southland play.
 
The Cardinals enter the week second in the league in batting average, hitting the ball at a .286 clip with 27 home runs and 47 doubles as a team. The Cardinals are slugging .410 on the season with a .360 on-base percentage. A&M-Corpus Christi is currently seventh in the league in hitting (.262 batting average) with 24 homes and 55 doubles.
 
LU's brings the league's top pitching staff into the weekend. The Cardinals have a league-best 3.30 earned run average, 30 games into the season. LU is the only Southland team with a sub-4 ERA. The Cardinals have also surrendered a league-best 93 earned runs on the year.
 
The Islanders' staff brings a 5.86 ERA into the weekend series which ranks 10^th in the league, but they are third in the Southland in free passes (139) behind Houston Baptist and LU.
 
The Cardinals own the all-time series between the two schools, 43-15 (.741), a mark that includes a 25-6 (.806) record in Beaumont. The Cardinals have won 13 straight in the series, dating back to 2015.
 
The series kicks off Friday evening with a 6 p.m. first pitch. The Friday and Sunday's games will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI, with the Sunday game slated to be streamed live on www.LamarCardinals.com.