FRISCO, Texas – Senior Josh Blankenship has been named preseason second-team All-Southland Conference announced league officials Friday morning. In addition to the 2023 preseason all-conference teams, the league also released its preseason poll which has the Cardinals picked to finish third, just behind Southeastern Louisiana and McNeese who played for the Southland tournament title last season.
 
Blankensip had a breakout season in 2022 as one of the top run producers in the Western Athletic Conference. The Santa Fe, Texas native finished second on the team with a .340 batting average to go along with four home runs, 15 doubles and a team-high 53 RBIs and scored 33 runs. He also recorded two triples and drew 27 walks on the season – primarily as the Cardinals designated hitter.
 
Blankenship finished the year posting a .340/.439/.505 slash for Big Red in a season that saw him play in 55 games while starting all but three of those. Blankenship also posted a .944 OPS in a season that saw him record 19 multi-hit games and four three-hit efforts.
 
The Cardinals also received 88 votes in a poll of the league coaches and media relations directors to be picked third, behind preseason favorites McNeese and Southeastern Louisiana.  McNeese and SLU combined to receive 17 of the possible 18 first-place votes.
 
The Cardinals will open the 2023 campaign at home Friday, Feb. 17^th with a three-game series against Oakland. All home games will be played at Vincent-Beck Stadium. Tickets can purchased by going to www.lamarcardinals.com/tickets or by calling (409) 880-2278.