BEAUMONT, Texas – Winners in eight of the last 11 games, the Lamar University baseball team opens a five-game road swing beginning with a mid-week game at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday. The contest against the Islanders opens a stretch that will see LU face the Islanders, UT Rio Grande Valley (three-game series) and Nicholls before returning to the friendly confines.
 
The Cardinals (13-7/5-1 WAC) are off to their best start since the 2016 season, having won all five series they've played this year, a stretch that includes two series sweeps. LU is coming off a conference series against Sam Houston where they took two of three to claim a one-game lead in the WAC's Southwest Division, and just a game back of Grand Canyon for the overall lead.
 
Big Red now turns its focus to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a Wednesday evening showdown. The Islanders are two games over .500 on the season (12-10), a schedule that includes a two-game series against No. 1 Texas where the Islanders dropped the second game by just a run, 5-4.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi has dropped three of their past five games but they are coming off a three-game series at Nebraska where they took the final two games against the Cornhuskers, including a 21-4 victory in the final game. For the three games, the Islanders pounded out 37 runs.
 
While the series history between the two schools only dates back to 2001, the majority of the matchups have come as conference opponents (Southland). The Red and White lead the all-time series, 45-17, a record that includes a split in a four-game series last season in Beaumont. The Cardinals have 15 of the last 17 meetings between the two teams. The Cardinal are a sterling 27-8 (.771) all-time against the Islanders in Beaumont.
 
Wednesday's game is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch from Chapman Field. After the game, the Cardinals will make the trip to UT Rio Grande Valley to return to conference play against the Vaqueros. The series will get started Friday evening at 7 p.m.