BEAUMONT, Texas — It's been a productive start for the Lamar University Cardinals as the program has played 10 games over a span of 12 days.

The stretch continues with a home game against Oakland University on Monday afternoon before traveling to Louisiana Tech for a Tuesday afternoon contest.

GOLDEN GRIZZLIES AT A GLANCE

Oakland is 1-6 to start the season.

The Golden Grizzlies recently suffered a three-game sweep to McNeese State as every game was decided by a margin of one run.

Oakland began the season winning one game of a four-game set with Jacksonville State. The Golden Grizzlies took Game 2 by a score of 11-4.

After finishing the 2024 season 31-27 overall and 18-12 in Horizon League play, the Golden Grizzlies were picked to finish third in the preseason poll.

Three players garnered preseason all-league selection nods as sophomore utility player Aidan Orr, sophomore outfielder Trent Rice and redshirt sophomore infielder Lucas Day made the list.

Day hit .318 last season with 62 hits, 10 home runs and 46 RBIs while Orr hit .347 with 22 RBIs.

Currently, graduate student catcher Matthew McGann leads the team with a .375 average to go along with six hits and three RBIs.

Freshman pitcher Grant Garman leads the staff with 10 strikeouts and a 3.37 ERA. He fanned six batters in five innings of four-hit work to get the win over Jacksonville State.

Oakland has made it to the Horizon League tournament the last three straight seasons, playing in the championship series in 2022 and 2023.

The Golden Grizzlies play their first 22 games on the road.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

This is the fourth meeting between LU and Oakland.

The Cardinals hosted the Golden Grizzlies for a three-game series in 2023.

All three games were won by the Cards by a deficit of one run.

LU VS. PROGRAMS FROM MICHIGAN

The Cards are 12-5 vs. programs from the state of Michigan.

BULLDOGS AT A GLANCE

Louisiana Tech opened its season with a four-game sweep of Maine.

After winning Game 1, 14-3, the Bulldogs secured the sweep with a 9-8 victory in 10 innings in Game 4.

Most recently, the Bulldogs won one game of a three-game set with Southern Miss, taking Game 3, 5-2.

Graduate student infielder Michael Ballard leads the offense with a .423 average, 11 hits, four doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs.

Outfielder and graduate student Garrison Berkley is hitting .400 with 10 hits.

Junior pitcher Luke Cooley has an ERA of 0.84 while sporting a 2-0 record with 14 strikeouts over 10.2 innings pitched.

Louisiana Tech is predicted to finish second in Conference USA behind Dallas Baptist.

Senior pitcher Luke Nichols was named to the preseason all-conference team after going 4-4 with 82 strikeouts while posting a 4.46 ERA last season.

The Bulldogs wrapped up 2024 with a 45-19 overall record and 18-6 mark in Conference USA play.

After landing in the conference tournament title game, the Bulldogs qualified for the NCAA regionals, making a trip to Fayetteville, Ark.

It was the program's first trip to the regionals since 2022.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Cardinals are 50-61 vs. Louisiana Tech since the first meeting in 1968.

Louisiana Tech has won the last four meetings, which snapped a five-game winning streak by the Cardinals.

This marks the first meeting between both programs since March 7, 2012.

WALK IT OUT

As of Feb. 21, the Cardinals were ranked second in NCAA Division I in walks drawn (43), six behind the leader Tennessee.

LU now has 54 walks on the season.

RUNS, RUNS, RUNS

As of Feb. 21, the Cardinals were tied for ninth in the nation in NCAA Division I in runs scored (54) alongside Virginia Military Institute.

After this week's games, LU has now scored 87 runs.

The Cards outscored their opponents, 56-12, this past week as they averaged 11.2 runs per game.

LU's 21-0 win over UAlbany in Game 2 was the 18th time in program history where 20 or more runs were scored.

The last time the Cards won 21-0 was in 1978 over McNeese State.

LU scored 20 or more runs in a game most recently in 2024 against Texas Southern (20-2).

HOT HITTERS

LU has three hitters batting over .500.

Heladio Moreno leads the charge with a .565 average to go along with 13 hits and seven RBIs.

Damian Ruiz is batting .516 with a team-high 16 hits, six doubles and 11 RBIs.

Tab Tracy has 14 hits and 10 RBIs to go with his .500 batting average.

Both Ruiz and Tracy are riding an eight-game hitting streak.

The trio combined to drive in 20 runs in five games while they also tallied 31 hits during that span.

SOLID PITCHING

LU's starting pitchers combined to strike out 31 batters while posting a 1.73 ERA over a span of five games.

Peyton Havard tallied 11 strikeouts in Game 1 against UAlbany, the fifth most in a single game in program history.