BEAUMONT, Texas — The Lamar University Cardinals will take a break from Southland Conference play this weekend by hosting the University of Texas Arlington Mavericks for a three-game series.

This weekend begins a seven-game home stand that includes a midweek contest against Arkansas – Pine Bluff and a three-game series with Nicholls.

MAVERICKS AT A GLANCE

UT Arlington is 8-17 overall and 2-4 in Western Athletic Conference play.

The Mavericks have dropped the last three games, most recently falling to No. 17 Dallas Baptist, 14-4, in seven innings.

This was their third game against a ranked opponent having faced No. 5 Texas and No 10 Oklahoma.

Previously, UT Arlington dropped a series two games to three to California Baptist.

The Mavericks are 2-7 in their last nine games.

Mike Trapasso took over as the eighth head coach after he assumed the role on Aug. 22, 2024.

Trapasso spent 20 years at Hawai'i where he put together a 536-531 record while guiding the program to two NCAA regional appearances in 2006 and 2010 and back-to-back WAC championships in 2010 and 2011.

The Mavericks are hitting a collective .259 with 223 hits, 41 doubles, 16 home runs and 122 RBIs.

Redshirt junior infielder Tyce Armstrong leads the team with a .323 average, 32 hits, five home runs, seven doubles and .545 slugging percentage.

Armstrong brings in a nine-game hitting streak where he has gone 12 for 35 (.343) with three doubles, two home runs and five RBIs.

UT Arlington's pitching staff has a 6.20 ERA in 217.2 innings pitched with 163 strikeouts.

Sophomore righthander Caylon Dygert leads the staff with 23 strikeouts in 36.2 innings pitched and seven starts.

Nicholas Robb, a sophomore righthander, sports a 3.89 ERA and a 1-3 record in 34.2 innings.

UT Arlington finished the 2024 season with a 22-34 overall record while going 16-5 in league play. The Mavericks made two straight trips to the WAC tournament in 2023 and 2024.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

This will be the 125th meeting between both programs since the series started in 1969.

LU leads the all-time series 81-43 while it also sports a 49-26 record against the Mavericks at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

The Cardinals took two out of three from UT Arlington last season at The Beck as they are 6-3 in the last nine meetings.

MIDWEEK SUCCESS

LU is now 10-0 in midweek contests with only six more remaining. The Cardinals are 6-0 in midweeks 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

CARDINALS AT A GLANCE

LU is ranked first in NCAA Division I in hits and 20th in batting average.

The Cardinals lead the conference in batting average (.323), hits (346) and RBIs (236) while they are second in doubles (67), second in walks (173), fourth in slugging percentage (.465) and second in on base percentage (.428).

LU's 22 runs scored in the win over Tarleton State are the most runs in a single game in the conference this season.

Previously, the Cardinals had scored 21 runs in a win over UAlbany back on Feb. 22.

Damian Ruiz is 23rd in the nation in batting average, tied for fifth in doubles, tied for 13th in hits and tied for second in runs scored.

Ruiz has reached base safely in 30 straight games while he is on a 13-game hitting streak.

Since 2010, the longest on base streak is 33 games recorded in 2024 by Kanin Dodge.

The second longest on base streak is 32 set by Stijn van der Meer in 2016.

Ruiz leads the Southland Conference in runs scored (48), hits (49) and doubles (15) while he is second in batting average (.415), seventh in slugging percentage (.678), second in on base percentage (.517), fourth in on base + slugging percentage (1.195), fourth in walks (24) and eighth in at bats (118).

He has gone 22 for 52 (.423) during a 13-game span at the plate with five doubles, a triple, two home runs and 10 RBIs.

Heladio Moreno surpassed Ruiz as the SLC's new leader in batting average (.425). Moreno is also second in hits (48) and ninth in on base percentage (.481).

Moreno is on a seven-game hitting streak going 16 for 32 (.500) during the span with four doubles and seven RBIs.

The Cardinals have players ranked in the top 10 in 18 of the 19 offensive categories in the conference.

Zane Spinn is tied for second in RBIs (33), tied for seventh in hits (42) and tied for fifth in at bats (122) in the conference.

Brayden Evans is tied for seventh in the SLC in runs scored (31), tied for seventh in hits (42), tied for ninth in home runs (6), eighth in RBIs (30) and tied for third in at bats (123).

Matt Ryan is tied for fifth in the conference in on base percentage (.487).

Zak Skinner has put together a seven-game hitting streak going 13 for 34 (.382) with three doubles, two home runs and 17 RBIs during the span.

Skinner went 4 for 7 with a single, double, two home runs and nine RBIs in the 22-16 win over Tarleton State.

Since 2010, Skinner has tallied the most RBIs in a single game surpassing the high mark of eight set by Ryan Meade in 2010.

Skinner has also tallied the most RBIs in a single game this season in the conference, surpassing the previous game high of six set by Scott Ryan of Incarnate Word.

The LU pitching staff leads the conference with 264 strikeouts, nine saves and 267 innings pitched.

Riely Hunsaker is tied for sixth in ERA (2.57) in the SLC.

Chris Olivier sports the sixth best opposing batting average (.218) in the conference while he is tied for fourth in wins (4) alongside teammate Carter Sutton.

Peyton Havard is fourth in the conference in strikeouts (40) and tied for eighth in saves (2) alongside teammate Austin Neal.

As a staff, LU has tallied 10 or more strikeouts in 12 games.