BEAUMONT, Texas – After a disappointing trip to Edinburg, Texas over the weekend, the Lamar University baseball team will look to bounce back during a mid-week game at Nicholls. The game – which was originally slated for Wednesday evening – has been moved to Tuesday and is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch from Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray Didier Field.
 
The Cardinals (15-9/.625) are tied for the top spot in the WAC's Southwest Division having split their last four decisions but are coming off consecutive losses at UT Rio Grande Valley. In fact, the series against the Vaqueros marks the first time all season that LU has not won a series.
 
Tuesday's contest will match two first place teams against each other. While Cardinals lead their division in the WAC, the Colonels opened Southland play by sweeping rival Southeastern Louisiana and sit alone at the top of the conference standings.
 
Off to one of their best starts in program history (13-9), the Colonels have won four straight and have already recorded wins over Missouri, Mississippi Valley State (three-game sweep), Louisiana Tech, Memphis (2-of-3), UL Monroe, UL Lafayette and Southeastern Louisiana (three-game sweep).
 
After a slow start to the season, senior Chase Kemp's bat has started to heat up with the start of conference play. The Nederland, Texas, native is now hitting .300 on the season with 2 home runs, six doubles and 17 runs batted in. Since the start of conference play, Kemp is batting .471 with a .591 on-base percentage with his slugging percentage now up over .700. Just in the past four games, Kemp went 9-for-15 (.600) at the plate with a double, two RBIs, and four walks.
 
The series between the two schools dates back to the 1970 season and is one that has favored Big Red. The Cardinals own a 62-46-2 (.573) mark against Nicholls, with LU being three games over .500 (23-20-1) in Thibodaux. The majority of the meetings have come as conference opponents with the Cardinals owning a 35-25 record in those games. 
 
The Colonels have won nine of the previous 12 meetings in the series, but the Cardinals have one two of the last three. Big Red is making its first trip to Thibodaux since the 2018 season. 
 
After the midweek contest against the Colonels, LU returns to Beaumont Friday to open a three-game WAC series against Abilene Christian.