BEAUMONT, Texas – After equaling the best start in school history, Lamar University dropped two of three to a very talented Pennsylvania squad and will now look to start a new win streak after closing the three game series against the Quakers with a 3-1 victory. To do that, the Cardinals will have to pull off another upset of a nationally ranked SEC squad – this time in the form of No. 1 LSU.
 
After dropping the opening game of the series to Penn, the Cardinals fell in a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon by the final score of 7-6 in extra innings. Big Red had its chances but was unable to come up with the key hit in the late innings. Behind a strong pitching performance, the Cardinals took the third and final game of the series.
 
The top-ranked Tigers are 11-1 (.917) on the season with their lone loss coming against Iowa in the Round Rock Classic. LSU has won six straight coming into the midweek contest and has won their last four games by 10 runs or more with three of those by way of the run rule.  
 
The all-time series between the two schools, which dates back to the 1984 season, has been fairly close with the Tigers holding a slim, 8-6 (.571) advantage. LU won the first five meetings, but the Tigers have taken eight of the last nine, including three straight. The lone LU win during that stretch was a 12-11 victory which saw the Cardinals rally from an early 8-0 deficit to defeat the then fifth-ranked Tigers, 12-11. That was also the last time the two schools met in Beaumont.
 
Wednesday's contest will also be the first time since the 2019 season that LSU and Big Red have squared off on the diamond. That was another close contest that saw the Tigers hold on for a 5-3 decision at Alex Box Stadium.
 
The Cardinals bring the league's best earned run average into the contest. Big Red has a recorded a 2.68 ERA to this point in the season with just a 1.05 WHIP through 12 games. Lamar has also surrendered a league low four home runs and is holding opponents to a .216 batting average – second best in the Southland.
 
Wednesday's contest is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. from Alex Box Stadium. It will be streamed live on the SEC Network+. Following Wednesday's midweek game, the Cardinals will be back in action Friday to host UC Riverside in a three-game series at Vincent-Beck Stadium.