BEAUMONT, Texas — Two high-powered teams are set to go to battle this weekend for a pivotal Southland Conference series.

Lamar University travels to Hammond, La. for a three-game series against Southeastern Louisiana beginning Friday.

The Cardinals are currently two games out of first place and a game out of second in the latest SLC standings.

LIONS AT A GLANCE

Southeastern Louisiana is currently 33-12 overall and 18-6 in conference play.

The Lions are coming off a 15-2 midweek loss to No. 2 LSU on Tuesday.

Prior to that, Southeastern took two out of three from Houston Christian on the road last weekend.

Senior infielder TJ Salvaggio leads the offense with 61 hits while he is batting .330 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs.

Salvaggio is currently riding a 12-game hitting streak and an 18-game on base streak.

He has gone 23 for 52 (.442) during the 12 games with four doubles, a triple, four home runs and 11 RBIs.

Senior outfielder / infielder Ryan Brome leads the offense with a .355 average and 12 doubles while he also has 12 home runs, 55 hits and 36 RBIs.

Senior catcher Conner O'Neal leads the team with 48 RBIs while he is also tied for the lead in home runs with 12.

Southeastern ranks fourth in the conference in hitting with a .297 average, 73 home runs, 450 hits and 324 RBIs.

The Lions lead the conference in home runs and slugging percentage (.507) while they are second in RBIs and second in runs scored.

Redshirt senior pitcher Brennan Stuprich leads the Southland Conference in ERA (2.06), opposing batting average (.169), innings pitched (74.1), strikeouts (98) and wins (9).

In his last outing on April 25 against Houston Christian, Stuprich pitched 7.2 shutout innings with six strikeouts while allowing four hits.

He has recorded 10 or more strikeouts in five games with his last coming against Incarnate Word where he fanned 13 batters to tie his season-high total.

The Lions have the best ERA in the Southland Conference sitting at 3.53 while they rank fifth in strikeouts (358), first in shutouts (7) and first opponent batting average (.222).

Southeastern is led by second-year head coach Bobby Barbier who sports a 63-40 overall record.

Barbier previously spent seven seasons at Northwestern State, leading the program to a 181-169 record.

The Lions finished 30-28 last spring after falling to Nicholls on the third day of the SLC tournament.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

This is the 92nd all-time meeting between both programs since the first meeting on March 2, 1981.

LU is 49-42 overall against the Lions all-time and 22-18 in Hammond, La.

The Cardinals have won their last six meetings after sweeping a pair of three-game series in 2023 and 2024.

MIDWEEK SUCCESS

LU is 13-2 in midweek contests with one remaining against No. 1 Texas. The Cardinals are 8-0 in midweek contests at home and 5-2 on the road.

The Cards have outscored their midweek opponents, 156-86.

Breakdown by conference:

• 4-0 vs. Conference USA
• 3-0 vs. American Athletic Conference
• 2-0 vs. The Summit League
• 2-0 vs. Southwestern Athletic Conference
• 1-0 vs. Horizon League
• 1-0 vs. Western Athletic Conference
• 0-1 vs. Big 12
• 0-1 vs. Southeastern Conference

SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE STANDINGS

• Southeastern (33-12, 18-6)
• McNeese (29-11, 17-7)
• UTRGV (29-15, 19-8)
• Lamar (36-12, 16-8)
• Northwestern State (28-18, 17-10)
• Houston Christian (23-19, 15-9)
• New Orleans (23-19, 10-14)
• A&M-Corpus Christi (16-27, 8-16)
• Nicholls (15-27, 8-16)
• Stephen F. Austin (13-29, 4-19)
• UIW (17-27, 3-21)

HE GETS ON BASE

Damian Ruiz is now sporting a 30-game hitting streak and 47-game on base streak.

Ruiz leads the Southland Conference in batting average (.416), on base percentage (.539), on base + slugging percentage (1.196), runs scored (69), hits (74), doubles (18) and walks (46).

He also ranks seventh in slugging percentage (.657) while he is tied for seventh in at bats (178) and tied for fifth in stolen bases (12).

Ruiz is tied for eighth in NCAA Division I in walks while he is 14th in batting average, tied for 17th in doubles, tied for 10th in hits, eighth in on base percentage and third in runs scored.

According to 643 Charts, Ruiz also ranks ninth in the nation in wins above replacement (3.84).

Ruiz has gone 47 for 112 (.420) during the 30-game stretch with eight doubles, one triple, five home runs and 24 RBIs.

He has also tallied a team-high 23 multi-hit games.

SOLID PITCHING

LU leads the Southland Conference in strikeouts (425) and innings pitched (414.1) while its tied for first in saves (12), second in ERA (4.13) and second in opponent batting average (.248).

Riely Hunsaker (2.61), Peyton Havard (2.65) and Chris Olivier (3.02) rank third, fourth and fifth in the conference in ERA, respectively.

Havard is third in the conference in opposing batting average (.204) while Olivier is fifth (.223).

Havard is also third in strikeouts (69), fifth in saves (4), third in wins (7) and 10th in batters struck out looking (13).

In his last three appearances, Havard picked up two wins while striking out 10 batters without allowing a walk.

Olivier is also ninth in the conference in batters struck out looking (14) and tied for fourth in wins (6).

Hunsaker also ranks eighth in the conference in strikeouts (52) while he is tied for ninth in innings pitched (58.2).

CARDINALS AT A GLANCE

LU leads the Southland Conference in batting average (.305), on base percentage (.421), at bats (1,637), runs scored (385), hits (500), RBIs (344) and walks (286).

The Cardinals rank second as a team in conference in doubles (92), third in triples (11) and second in total bases (728).

LU is ranked sixth in NCAA Division I in walks, sixth in hits, 20th in runs scored and 25th in on base percentage.

The Cards are one of six teams in NCAA Division I with 500 or more hits. Alabama State leads the nation with 523 hits while the University of New Mexico is second with 522.

Zak Skinner has reached base safely in his last seven games. He is tied for second in the conference in RBIs (49), tied for sixth in doubles (14), tied for sixth in walks (30) and tied for second in at bats (190).

Zane Spinn is tied for fourth in the conference in hits (63), tied for eighth in RBIs (43) and tied for second in at bats (190).

Brayden Evans ranks sixth in the conference in runs scored (46), tied for eighth in hits (59), tied for second in RBIs (49), tied for fourth in triples (3), first in at bats (195) and tied for sixth in walks (30).

Heladio Moreno is seventh in the conference in batting average (.356), tied for fourth in hits (63), tied for ninth in at bats (177) and tied for eighth in stolen bases (11).

Matt Ryan ranks third in the conference in on base percentage (.480) while he is tied for fifth in hit by pitch (15).

Tab Tracy is tied for eighth in the conference in walks (29) and tied for fifth in stolen bases (12).