BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University enters the final week of the regular season with a lot still riding on the line, and the Cardinals will attempt to secure those goals here at home with four-game homestand. The Cardinals will host UT Rio Grande Valley in their final non-conference game of the season, before hosting Houston Christian for a three-game series beginning Thursday.
 
The Cardinals (28-21/10-11 Southland) had a rough time with Mother Nature last week. After going on the road and defeating Baylor – to pick up their fifth victory over a power 5 school this season – the Cardinals had their scheduled three-game series at Stephen F. Austin boiled down to one game due to rains in Nacogdoches. The Cardinals – winners in two of their last three – look to close the regular season with a flourish and secure their spot in the conference tournament, but before LU can worry about tournament security it will have to face a very tough opponent in UT Rio Grande Valley.
 
A one-year conference rival of the Cardinals, UTRGV makes its way to Beaumont with a 26-23 (.531) overall record but is in the midst of a tough stretch. The Vaqueros have lost three straight, and six of their last eight, with four games remaining in the regular season.
 
The Cardinals lead the all-time series over UTRGV (formerly UT Pan American), 74-52 – including a 45-22 (.672) record in Beaumont, but the Vaqueros have won four of the last five meetings and six of the previous 10.
 
Tuesday's contest is slated for a 6 p.m. start from Vincent-Beck Stadium and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
The Cardinals will then turn around 48 hours later and host Houston Christian in a pivotal three-game series. Both teams need the series to secure a spot in the conference tournament. The formula is simple for Lamar – win one and you're in the Southland Conference tournament. For the Huskies to advance, they would need to take all three games.
 
The Huskies (11-34/7-13 SLC) got off to a slow start on the season but split their first six conference decisions. HCU has struggled in the last three weeks of the season having dropped three straight and 12 of their last 15.
 
The Cardinals are playing for more than just a spot in the tournament. LU still has an outside shot to climb as high as the No. 4, but for that to happen they need several things to fall into place. First, they would need to sweep HCU, have Texas A&M-Corpus Christi lose two of three to UIW and have New Orleans lose at least one to Nicholls and the Cardinals would then be the No. 4 seed.
 
The Cardinals lead the all-time series against HCU with a 33-23 (.589) overall record. That mark includes a 19-14 (.576) record in Beaumont.
 
With it being the final weekend of the season, the series against HCU will be played Thursday – Saturday with the Thursday and Friday games slated for a 6 p.m. start and Saturday's game beginning at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+.