BEAUMONT, Texas — Sitting two games out of second place in the latest Southland Conference standings, Lamar University heads on the road for five games beginning with a midweek contest in Huntsville against Sam Houston State on Tuesday.
The Cardinals then travel to Natchitoches, La. for a three-game series against Northwestern State.
BEARKATS AT A GLANCE
Sam Houston State is 8-28 overall and 2-10 in Conference USA play.
The Bearkats have dropped their last five as they suffered a three-game sweep to Kennesaw State this past weekend.
Sam Houston State has gone 1-9 in its last 10 games. The Bearkats have played three teams in the top 25 (No. 1 Texas, No. 9 LSU and No. 18 Oklahoma).
Senior infielder Hunter Autrey leads the offense with 36 hits, 24 runs scored and 27 RBIs while he is tied for the lead in home runs (5) and tied for second in doubles (6).
Autrey went 3 for 4 with two home runs and five RBIs in a 17-6 loss in Game 3 to Kennesaw State.
Brady Christensen, a senior infielder, leads the team with a .284 average, .558 slugging percentage, .440 on base percentage and seven doubles.
Christensen is also tied for the team lead in home runs alongside Autrey.
The offense is hitting a collective .240 with 279 hits, 18 home runs and 156 RBIs.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Noah Kendrick has a team best 4.23 ERA in 10 appearances and seven starts.
Ryan Peterson, a sophomore, leads the staff with 51 innings pitched and 54 strikeouts.
The pitching staff has a 7.60 ERA in 311.1 innings pitched.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
This will be the 146th meeting between LU and Sam Houston State since the first meeting in 1952.
The Cardinals have won five of the last seven. LU is 67-77-1 all-time against the Bearkats.
Sam Houston State was in the Southland Conference from 1988-2021 before joining Conference USA in 2024.
MIDWEEK SUCCESS
LU is 11-0 in midweek contests with only four remaining after this week. 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
WALK IT OFF
LU has had four walk-off wins in its last seven games giving the team five for the season.
The Cards have walked it off twice in the first two games of a three-game series.
List of walk-off wins:
- W, 5-4 (10 innings) vs. New Mexico State (March 12): Zak Skinner fielder's choice to second.
- W, 3-2 vs. UT Arlington (April 4): Brayden Evans RBI single to right.
- W, 6-5 vs. UT Arlington (April 6): Zak Skinner RBI double down the right field line.
- W, 5-4 vs. Nicholls (10 innings) (April 11): Hector Rodriguez infield RBI single to first.
- W, 9-8 vs. Nicholls (April 12): Zak Skinner RBI single to right center.
THIRTY WINS
LU is one of eight teams in NCAA Division I to have won 30 or more games. The list includes Clemson (33), Arkansas (32), Georgia (32), Tennessee (31), Western Kentucky (31), LSU (31) and West Virginia (30).
It is also one of two mid-major programs to have 30 or more wins joining Western Kentucky.
CARDINALS AT A GLANCE
Damian Ruiz is the top hitter in the Southland Conference leading the league in batting average (.423), on base percentage (.539), hits (60), runs scored (55) and doubles (16).
Ruiz is also sixth in the conference in slugging percentage (.669), fourth in on base + slugging percentage (1.208), tied for third in walks (34) and tied for sixth in triples (2).
Ruiz is one of three batters in the Southland Conference batting .400 or better.
He is currently tied for 15th in NCAA Division I in batting average, tied for 13th in doubles, 12th in hits, 12th in on base percentage and tied for sixth in runs scored.
Ruiz is on a 20-game hitting streak and a 37-game on base streak.
Since 2010, the third-longest hitting streak recorded by a Cardinal is 20 games (
Avery George, 2019).
The longest hitting streak in the last 15 years is 28 games which was set by Sam Bumpers in 2014.
Ruiz already surpassed the longest on base streak since 2010 which was 33 games set by
Kanin Dodge in 2024.
Zak Skinner is third in the Southland Conference with 41 RBIs and fifth in at bats (150).
Skinner is on a six-game hitting streak as he's gone 10 for 23 (.434) during the span with 10 RBIs.
Brayden Evans is tied for sixth in the conference in hits (50), tied for sixth in RBIs (37), tied for third in triples (3) and second in at bats (156).
Evans and Skinner are tied for the most multi-RBI games on the team (11).
Heladio Moreno is fourth in the Southland Conference in batting average (.386) and fourth in hits (54).
Zane Spinn is tied for eighth in the conference in at bats (147) and tied for ninth in walks (22).
Matt Ryan is on a 13-game on base streak as he currently ranks fifth in the conference in on base percentage (.485).
Ryan has been hit by pitch 11 times this season to rank fifth in the Southland Conference.
LU's offense is second in the conference in batting average (.315), first in runs scored (309), first in hits (410), third in doubles (79), third in triples (10), first in RBIs (276), third in total bases (596), second in walks (217) and second in on base percentage (.425).
The Cardinals are ranked 23rd in NCAA Division I in batting average, tied for fifth in hits and 24th in runs scored.
LU's pitching staff leads the conference in strikeouts (324) and innings pitched (329) while it is tied for first in saves (10) and second in ERA (3.91).
Peyton Havard is ranked in the top 10 in six different categories.
Havard is fifth in the conference in ERA (3.05), fourth in opposing batting average (.216), fourth in strikeouts (53), tied for ninth in batters struck out looking (11), tied for third in wins (5) and tied for fifth in saves (3).
Carter Sutton is also tied for fourth in the conference with five wins.
Riely Hunsaker is fourth in the conference in ERA (2.87), tied for ninth in innings pitched (47) and tied for eighth in strikeouts (44).
Chris Olivier is eighth in the conference in ERA (3.27) and seventh in opposing batting average (.226).
