BEAUMONT, Texas — This weekend the Lamar University Cardinals seek to move up the ladder in the Southland Conference standings.

The Cardinals travel to Natchitoches, La. for a three-game series against Northwestern State beginning Thursday, April 17.

LU has won 16 of its last 17 games. The Cardinals are two games out of first place as there is a three-way tie for the top spot between McNeese, Southeastern and Houston Christian.

DEMONS AT A GLANCE

Northwestern State is sporting a 22-16 overall while its 13-8 in Southland Conference play.

The Demons are two games back of LU and four games out of first.

Recently, the Demons snapped a four-game losing streak by taking Game 3 over Houston Christian by a score of 10-5.

On Tuesday, April 15, Northwestern State defeated LSU-Alexandria, 3-0, to improve its home record to 16-3.

In SLC play, the Demons took a series over UTRGV, A&M-Corpus Christi and New Orleans two games to three while they also swept Nicholls and Incarnate Word.

Senior third baseman Rocco Gump and redshirt senior outfielder Reese Lipoma both lead the offense with 46 hits.

Gump is on a four-game hitting streak as he also leads the team with a .326 average, four triples, 36 RBIs and a .546 slugging percentage.

Redshirt senior Daniel Burroway has hit 11 home runs.

As a team, Northwestern State is batting .270 with 337 hits, 41 home runs and 242 RBIs.

The pitching staff has been led by junior right-hander Trent Hillen, who sports a 5-1 record with a 3.91 ERA and a team-high 48 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched.

Dylan Marionneaux, a sophomore right-hander, is second on the staff with 38 strikeouts.

Northwestern State has a collective 4.96 ERA in 322.2 innings pitched with 286 strikeouts.

Last season, the Demons went 22-33 overall and 11-13 in league play as they were eliminated in the conference tournament by LU.

The Demons have made four straight trips to the SLC tournament since 2021.

Head coach Chris Betrand took over the helm in 2023 after spending seven years in the program as an assistant coach.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

This will be the 132nd meeting between both programs since the first meeting in 1953.

The Cardinals lead the all-time series 71-60.

LU has won four of its last six meetings as it took two out of three last spring.

MIDWEEK SUCCESS

LU is 12-0 in midweek contests with only four remaining after this week. The Cardinals are 7-0 in midweek contests at home and 5-0 on the road.

Breakdown by conference:

• 4-0 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

THIRTY WINS

LU is one of 10 teams in NCAA Division I to have won 30 or more games. The list includes Clemson (33), Arkansas (33), Georgia (33), Tennessee (32), Western Kentucky (31), LSU (32), West Virginia (31), Texas (30) and Alabama (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 continues his consistency at the plate by riding a 38-game on base streak and a 21-game hitting streak.

Ruiz leads the Southland Conference in batting average (.418), on base percentage (.540), runs scored (59), hits (61) and doubles (16).

He is also sixth in slugging percentage (.658), fourth in on base + slugging percentage (1.198) and tied for first in walks (37).

Ruiz is tied for 19th in NCAA Division I in walks, 17th in batting average, tied for 13th in doubles and tied for 11th in hits.

He is ranked second in the nation in runs scored, four behind the nation's leader, John Bay of Austin Peay.

Ruiz leads LU with 19 multi-hit games.

Zak Skinner is riding a seven-game hitting streak, going 13 for 28 (.464) during the span with 11 RBIs.

Skinner ranks fourth in the conference in RBIs (42) and at bats (155) while he is tied for eighth in walks (23) alongside teammate Tab Tracy.

Brayden Evans has put together a four-game hitting streak while he has driven in 12 runs in his last three games.

Evans is tied for seventh in the conference in runs scored (39), sixth in hits (52), third in RBIs (44), tied for third in triples (3) and second in at bats (161).

He has tallied 12 multi-RBI games.

Heladio Moreno is sixth in the conference in batting average (.377) and tied for fourth in hits (55).

Zane Spinn ranks third on the team with a .333 average.

In the conference, Spinn is tied for seventh in hits (51), seventh in RBIs (38) and tied for fifth in at bats (153).

Matt Ryan is fifth in the conference in on base percentage (.495) and tied for third in hit by pitch (13).

The LU offense leads the SLC in batting average (.316), runs scored (327), hits (424), RBIs (293) and walks (230).

The offense is also tied for second in doubles (82), third in triples (11), second in total bases (621) and tied for first in on base percentage (.428).

LU is ranked 20th in NCAA Division I in batting average, tied for 24th in doubles, fourth in hits and tied for 15th in runs scored.

LU's pitching staff is second in the conference in ERA (3.94), tied for first in saves (10), first in innings pitched (338) and first in strikeouts (337).

Peyton Havard is fourth in the conference in strikeouts (53), tied for sixth in wins (5) and tied for sixth in saves (3).

Carter Sutton is also tied for sixth in wins in the conference with five.

Riely Hunsaker ranks fourth in the conference in ERA (2.87), 10th in opposing batting average (.254), tied for eighth in strikeouts (44) and tied for eighth in batters struck out looking (11).

Chris Olivier is sixth in the conference in ERA (3.27), sixth in opposing batting average (.226) and tied for eighth in batters struck out looking (11).

The LU pitching staff has tallied 10 or more strikeouts in a game 15 times this season.