BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's tennis team remains on the road Saturday looking for its first win of the season. The Cardinals will be in Waco, Texas Saturday for a doubleheader against the nationally ranked Baylor Bears. The first match is scheduled for a noon start with the evening match set for 6 p.m. Both matches will take place at the Hurd Tennis Center.
 
Saturday will mark the second contest against a nationally ranked opponent for Lamar (0-2) this season. Big Red opened the season against No. 7 Mississippi State, dropping a 6-1 decision against the Bulldogs.
 
The match against Lamar will be just the second on the season for the Bears who dropped a 5-2 decision at No. 8 San Diego to kick off their 2026 spring schedule.
 
Despite the loss to the Bulldogs, freshman Rintaro Shukuda pulled off a memorable victory in his first outing for the Red and White. He stepped on the court against Mississippi State's Hernandez Cortes, who opened the season as the No. 34-ranked singles player in the country. After dropping the opening set, Shukuda battled back for consecutive 6-4 decisions to win the match in three sets.
 
It was a similar situation in the Lamar's second match of the season – at SMU – sophomore Lukas Hamacher posted two hard-fought sets to defeat the Mustangs' Meethre Barot, 6-1, 7-5, to put Lamar on the scoreboard.
 
The doubleheader at Baylor will be the final two matches for Lamar before opening the home portion of its schedule. The Cardinals will host Rice Saturday, Jan. 31^st in Beaumont at the Thompson Family Tennis Center.