BEAUMONT, Texas – Just 24 hours after Major League Baseball concluded its 2023 regular season, the Lamar University baseball team took to the diamond at Vincent-Beck Stadium to begin making preparations for the 2024 campaign.
 
A team that has made three consecutive conference tournament – in two different leagues – the Lamar Cardinals are coming off a season that saw them win 32 games and record a third-place finish in the Southland Conference standings – just 2.0 games off the regular-season title pace. It marked the third consecutive winning season for the Red and White and second-straight 30-win season, a season which included wins over No. 5 Texas A&M, Kansas State, TCU, Houston and Baylor.
 
In addition to the team honors, catcher Ryan Snell put together one of the best seasons in program history earning Southland Conference Player of the Year, ABCA All-Region and All-America honors. All of that came before he was named a finalist for the coveted Buster Posey Award and a seventh-round draft pick of the Washington Nationals.
 
While reminiscing about past memories is always fun, Davis and his troops were focused on turning the page and starting the next chapter of Cardinal baseball. While the Cardinals said good-bye to a strong 2023 class of seniors, the coaching staff has infused the roster with a wave of new talent from transfer portal, junior college and prep ranks.
 
In addition to the wave of new players, the Cardinals have the benefit of returning their starting rotation from this past season – Brooks Caple, Jacob Ellis and Hunter Hesseltine – both Caple and Hesseltine garnered All-Southland Conference recognition to close out the 2023 campaign.
 
"We're real excited," said head coach Will Davis. "We have a lot of guys back to go along with some pretty good transfers. We're excited about the way these guys have looked in drills but to do some full-team practices and get some scrimmages in we will be able to separate the guys who can play for us."
 
The Cardinals will take to the practice field Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of this week with a scrimmages set for the end of each day of practice.
 
The Cardinals' fall practice schedule will conclude with the LU Fall World Series which takes place Nov. 9^th – 17^th at Vincent-Beck Stadium. Prior to the fall world series, Big Red will have a couple of fall games with one being at home. The Cards take on UT Rio Grande Valley (Oct. 28^th) in Beaumont and will travel to New Orleans to square off against the Tulane Green Wave (Nov. 5).