BEAUMONT, Texas — Sitting three games out of first place and in sixth place of the Southland Conference standings, Lamar University hosts Nicholls this weekend to wrap up the seven-game homestand.
COLONELS AT A GLANCE
Nicholls is in eighth place of the SLC with an overall record of 12-21 and a league mark of 6-12.
The Colonels are 2-7 in their last nine games.
Nicholls played No. 3 LSU on Tuesday to a competitive two-run ballgame, dropping 5-3.
Previously, the Colonels dropped a series, two games to three, to Houston Christian at home.
Senior outfielder Chase Jans leads the offense with 39 hits while junior outfielder Karson Irvin sports a team-high .314 average.
Irvin has gone 8 for 21 (.381) during his five-game hitting streak.
Senior catcher / first baseman Jaden Collura leads the offense with 21 RBIs and seven doubles.
Nicholls is batting .241 with 253 hits, nine home runs and 134 RBIs.
Senior righthanded pitcher Alec Sparks leads the staff with a 4-2 record, 2.98 ERA, 48.1 innings pitched and 44 strikeouts.
The Colonels' staff has a 6.21 ERA in 272.1 innings pitched with five saves and 259 strikeouts.
Brent Haring took over as the new head coach on June 26. He spent the 2024 season as the Director of Operations for the baseball program at LSU.
Nicholls finished the 2024 season winning the SLC conference tournament and making an appearance in the NCAA regionals with an overall record of 38-22 (16-8).
HEAD-TO-HEAD
This will be the 119th meeting between both programs since the series began in 1970.
LU leads the all-time series 64-52-2 while it is 40-28-1 at home.
The Cards dropped the series to Nicholls on the road last season two games to three.
LU's last series win over Nicholls came in May 2013 when it took two out of three at Vincent-Beck Stadium.
MIDWEEK SUCCESS
LU is 11-0 in midweek contests with only five remaining. The Cardinals are 7-0 in midweek contests at home and 4-0 on the road.
Breakdown by conference:
- 3-0 vs. Conference USA
- 3-0 vs. American Athletic Conference
- 2-0 vs. The Summit League
- 1-0 vs. Horizon League
- 1-0 vs. Western Athletic Conference
- 1-0 vs. Southwestern Athletic Conference
CARDINALS AT A GLANCE
Damian Ruiz is tied for 10th in NCAA Division I in doubles (15), five behind the leader, Georgia State's Kaleb Freeman.
Ruiz is also tied for 30th in batting average (.417), tied for 32nd in on base percentage (.524), tied for 12th in hits (55) and sixth in runs (50).
Since 2010, the longest on base streak recorded is 33 games which was set by
Kanin Dodge in 2024.
Ruiz surpassed that mark as he is currently on a 34 game on base streak while riding a 17-game hitting streak.
During the 17-game streak, he is 28 for 66 (.424) with five doubles, one triple, three home runs and 12 RBIs.
Since 2010, the longest hitting streak in program history was recorded by Sam Bumpers (28 games) in 2014.
Ruiz has the fourth-longest hitting streak in program history since 2010. He is three hits shy of tying the third-longest mark of 20 games set by
Avery George in 2019.
In the SLC, Ruiz is tied for first in batting average, sixth in slugging percentage (.674), second in on base percentage, fourth in on base + slugging percentage (1.198), first in runs scored, first in hits, first in doubles, tied for fourth in triples (2), tied for ninth in at bats (132) and fourth in walks (29).
Heladio Moreno is fourth in the conference in batting average (.391) and third in hits (50).
Zane Spinn ranks eighth in the conference in hits (45), seventh in RBIs (34), tied for seventh in walks (21) and tied for seventh in at bats (133).
Brayden Evans is currently seventh in the conference in hits (46), 10th in RBIs (32) and fourth in at bats (142).
Matt Ryan's .478 on base percentage is tied for fifth best in the conference.
Zak Skinner is tied for fifth in the conference in RBIs (35) and fifth in at bats (138). Skinner has gone 5 for 11 (.455) in his last three games with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs.
The Cardinals are tied for fifth in NCAA Division I in hits (375) alongside Dayton. Alabama State and Georgia Tech are tied for the lead with 389 hits.
LU is also tied for 23rd in doubles (73), tied for 23rd in walks (194) and tied for 32nd in runs (279).
In the Southland Conference, the Cardinals are second in batting average, first in runs, first in hits, third in doubles, first in RBIs (249), third in total bases (545), fourth in slugging percentage, third in walks and second in on base percentage (.419).
The Cardinal pitching staff leads the conference in strikeouts (296) and innings pitched (303) while being tied for first in saves (10), second in ERA (3.77) and second in opponent batting average (.238).
Riely Hunsaker has the fourth best ERA in the SLC (2.36) while he is also 10th in innings pitched (42) and tied for eighth in batters struck out looking (11).
Chris Olivier is sixth in the conference in ERA (2.90), fourth in opposing batting average (.211) and tied for eighth in batters struck out looking (11).
Peyton Havard ranks sixth in the conference in strikeouts (42) while he is tied for fifth in saves (3).
Carter Sutton, Olivier and Havard are also tied for fifth in the conference in wins (4).
