BEAUMONT, Texas — Lamar University is making its 21st trip to the Southland Conference tournament.

The Cardinals locked in the third seed as they take on the sixth seeded Houston Christian Huskies in Edinburg on Thursday, May 15 at 1 p.m.

HUSKIES AT A GLANCE

Since joining the Southland Conference during the 2013-2014 school year, Houston Christian is making its fourth tournament appearance.

The Huskies have gone 10-6 in tournament play since their first appearance in 2015.

Houston Christian's last tournament appearance came in 2022.

In 2015, the Huskies captured the Southland Conference tournament title after beating Sam Houston State in Sugar Land to land a spot in the Houston regional.

Houston Christian currently sports an overall record of 27-23, which marks the program's first winning season since 2017.

The Huskies defeated Sam Houston State, 6-3, on the road Tuesday during their final midweek contest.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

This will be the 66th meeting between both programs since 1967.

The Cardinals lead the all-time series, 42-23.

LU has won the last 10 meetings.

MIDWEEK SUCCESS

LU wrapped up the 2025 season going 13-3 in midweek contests (8-0 at home and 5-3 on the road).

The Cards outscored their midweek opponents, 159-95.

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
• 0-2 vs. Southeastern Conference

WINNING AT HOME

LU has the second-best home record in NCAA Division I.

The Cards have won their last 11 games, which ties them for the second longest win streak in the nation alongside Jacksonville.

LU's 27-2 (.931) record at Vincent-Beck Stadium is the best winning percentage in program history since going 25-3 in 1993.

The Cards have gone 51-6 the last two seasons at home.

Top 10 best home records:

1. Western Kentucky (29-1)
2. Lamar (27-2)
3. UTSA (22-2)
4. Northeastern (22-2)
5. Columbia (10-1)
6. Arkansas (30-3)
7. Georgia (27-3)
8. Texas (26-5)
9. Kansas State (18-3)
10. Wright State (17-3)

WALK IT OFF

The Cardinals have seven walk-off wins, five happening in the month of April.

Zak Skinner has delivered three of the seven walk-off victories.

List of walk-off wins:

• March 11: 5-4 (10 inn.) vs. New Mexico State (Zak Skinner fielder's choice to second)
• April 4: 3-2 vs. UT Arlington (Brayden Evans RBI single to right)
• April 6: 6-5 vs. UT Arlington (Zak Skinner RBI double down the right field line)
• April 11: 5-4 (10 inn.) vs. Nicholls (Hector Rodriguez RBI infield single)
• April 12: 9-8 vs. Nicholls (Zak Skinner RBI single to right center)
• April 25: 4-3 vs. New Orleans (Zane Spinn RBI single down the left field line)
• May 9: 11-9 vs. Houston Christian (Heladio Moreno three-run home run to right center)

List of walk-off's resulting in a win courtesy of the 10-run rule:

• Feb. 24: 15-2 (8 inn.) (Trent Baker grand slam to right)
• April 27: 13-3 (8 inn.) (Matt Ryan RBI single to left center)
• May 8: 10-0 (8 inn.) (Reese Beheler two-RBI single to right)
• May 10: 17-5 (7 inn.) (Zane Spinn grand slam down the right field line)

40 WINS

LU is one of 10 teams in NCAA Division I with 40 or more wins.

The Cards are one of two mid-major programs with 40 or more wins, joining Northeastern and Coastal Carolina.

LU recorded back-to-back 40-win seasons for the first time since 2003-2004.

CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

LU has had four players named a Southland Conference Baseball Player of the Week.

Here's a list:

• Damian Ruiz (Hitter of the Week) (Feb. 24)
• Zak Skinner (Hitter of the Week) (April 7)
• Peyton Havard (Pitcher of the Week) (April 14)
• Riely Hunsaker (Pitcher of the Week) (May 5)

NATION'S BEST SHORTSTOP

Zane Spinn was named to the 2025 watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award on April 18, which honors the nation's top shortstop.

He is one of three shortstops in the Southland Conference featured on the list, joining UTRGV's Isaac Lopez and Southeastern Louisiana's T.J. Salvaggio.

Spinn is batting .323 in 55 starts with 70 hits, 13 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 49 RBIs, a .461 slugging percentage, 30 walks and 10 stolen bases.

Defensively, Spinn sports a .954 fielding percentage with 62 putouts, 146 assists and team-high 20 double plays turned.

CONFERENCE'S BEST HITTER

Damian Ruiz shattered another school record this past weekend.

He most recently broke the single season record for runs scored with 75. The record was 73 previously held by Tyler Link in 2009.

Ruiz broke the single season record for the longest hitting streak with a 32-game streak, surpassing a record that was held by Sam Bumpers (28 games in 2014).

Since 2010, the program's highest on base streak was 33 games set by Kanin Dodge in 2024. Ruiz shattered that mark with a 49-game streak.

Ruiz leads the Southland Conference in batting average (.395), on base percentage (.519), runs scored (75), hits (81), doubles (21) and walks (49).

He also ranks seventh in the conference in slugging percentage (.620), fourth in on base + slugging percentage (1.139), seventh in at bats (205) and seventh in stolen bases (14).

Ruiz is second in the nation in runs scored while he is 10th in runs per game (1.39), tied for 11th in doubles, tied for 11th in hits, 14th in on base percentage and tied for 15th in walks.

He is tied for the team-lead in multi-hit games with 25 (19 two-hit games and 6 three-hit games).

SOLID PITCHING

LU leads the Southland Conference with 482 strikeouts, 14 saves and 471.1 innings pitched.

The staff is also second in ERA (4.24) and second in opposing batting average (.226).

LU is currently eight punch outs away from tying the single season team record for strikeouts. The record is 490 set in 2006. 

Riely Hunsaker leads the Southland Conference with a 2.17 ERA while he is sixth in opposing batting average (.230), ninth in innings pitched (70.2), tied for fourth in strikeouts (67) and ninth in batters struck out looking (16).

Hunsaker also ranks ninth in NCAA Division I in ERA.

Peyton Havard is fourth in the conference in ERA (2.81), fourth in opposing batting average (.214), third in strikeouts (76), tied for third in wins (7) and fifth in saves (5).

Chris Olivier ranks seventh in the conference in ERA (3.39), tied for seventh in opposing batting average (.231) and fourth in batters struck out looking (21).

The LU staff has tallied 10 or more strikeouts in 21 games. The season high mark of 17 strikeouts was recorded against Nicholls on April 11.

LU'S POTENT OFFENSE

The Cardinals lead the Southland Conference in runs scored (435), hits (564), RBIs (391), walks (326) and on base percentage (.418).

LU's offense is also second in the conference in batting average (.301), second in doubles (100), second in total bases (818) and third in stolen bases (66).

The offense is tied for fifth in NCAA Division I in walks alongside Wake Forest while it is ninth in hits.

Brayden Evans is seventh in the Southland Conference in runs scored (50), tied for seventh in hits (67), tied for third in RBIs (54), tied for fourth in triples (3), first in at bats (225) and tied for sixth in walks (34).

Matt Ryan is tied for third in the conference in on base percentage (.475) and third in hit by pitch (18).

Zak Skinner is tied for seventh in the conference in runs batted in (50), eighth in doubles (14), third in at bats (215) and fifth in walks (36).

Zane Spinn ranks fifth in the conference in hits (70), ninth in RBIs (49) and second at bats (217).

Tab Tracy is tied for sixth in the conference in walks (34) and tied for fifth in stolen bases (19).

Heladio Moreno is 10th in the conference in hits (65).

SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY

LU is 36-34 in Southland Conference tournament action since 1967.

The Cards have made four straight trips to the conference tournament since 2021. LU was a member of the WAC in 2022.

In 2024, LU went 3-2 at the tournament, which was played in Hammond, La.

The Cards won the conference tournament in 2002, 2004 and 2010.

TEXAS VS. LOUISIANA

Bracket play in the Southland Conference tournament is being played Thursday-Sunday, May 15-18.

Hammond, La. bracket (Thursday's games):

• No. 4 Northwestern State vs. No. 5 McNeese | 1 p.m.
• No. 1 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 8 New Orleans | 6 p.m.

Edinburg bracket (Thursday's games):

• No. 3 Lamar vs. No. 6 HCU | 1 p.m.
• No. 2 UTRGV vs. No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 6 p.m.

Full bracket: https://indd.adobe.com/view/83810dab-ad53-4dcd-8d99-39cb1b0aa7ff