BEAUMONT, Texas — After opening the season taking two out of three from Oakland University, the Lamar University baseball team now shifts its attention to back-to-back midweek contests against a pair Power 4 programs.

The Cardinals travel to Austin on Tuesday to take on the No. 3 Longhorns before returning home to take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday.
LEADING OFF: The LU offense tallied 10 doubles this past weekend … A.J. Taylor went 4 for 9 (.444) with four hits which included two doubles … Beau Durbin and Tab Tracy each brought in five runs over the weekend … Durbin went 5 for 13 (.385) with three singles and two doubles.

GETTING ON BASE: Brayden Evans extended his on base streak to 17 games … Evans finished the 2025 season with a 13-game on base streak … Evans also extended his hitting streak to 10 games as he wrapped up the previous season with a seven-game streak.

PUNCH OUTS: The pitching staff tallied 41 strikeouts over the weekend, matching the most strikeouts in an Opening Day weekend since 2022 against Binghamton.

MASTERFUL PITCHING: Chris Olivier tallied 14 strikeouts in 6.2 innings … He retired 19 in a row, carrying a perfect game until the seventh inning … Olivier struck out every leadoff batter he faced while one ball was hit to the outfield, which came on a fly out to center in the sixth … Olivier finished three strikeouts shy of tying the single game program record (17 strikeouts — Clay Hensley, 2002) … Olivier tied the third highest strikeout total in a game joining the most recent mark set by Will Hibbs in 2016.

MIDWEEK SUCCESS: Dating back to 2010, LU has gone 88-72 in midweek contests … Last season it finished 13-3 (8-0 at home and 5-3 on the road).

LU VS. TOP 25: The Cardinals take on four top 25 programs this season — No. 3 Texas, No. 10 TCU, No. 12 Oregon State and No. 25 Texas A&M … The last time LU took on four ranked opponents in a season was in 2016 … Since 2010, the Cardinals have notched 15 wins against top 25 programs … The last win over a top five program came in 2023 over No. 5 Texas A&M … LU's last win over a top 25 program was in 2024 with a three-game sweep of No. 25 Oklahoma.

OPENING DAY: LU is now 42-21 on Opening Day since 1952, winning its last eight since 2019 … Since 2000, LU has gone 23-4 on Opening Day.

HOME COOKING: The Cardinals have posted a 55-18-1 record in home openers since 1967, winning their last eight since 2019 … LU has gone 25-2 in home openers since 2000 and 31-2 since 1994.
LU vs. Texas: The Cardinals are 7-36 all-time vs. the Longhorns since the first meeting in 1970 … Texas has won its last five … LU's last win in the series came in 2016, which marked the program's first win over the Longhorns since 2003 … Of the 43 meetings, 40 have taken place in Austin … LU hosted the Longhorns in Beaumont twice in 1992 and 1994, winning both contests.
LEADING OFF: The Longhorns are fresh off a three-game sweep of UC Davis … Texas outscored the Aggies, 27-7 … In Game 1, Texas notched a 12-2 win in seven innings, posting 11 hits … The Longhorns trailed 2-0 in Game 2 before scoring six runs across the fifth and sixth innings to secure the contest … Texas used a six-run rally in the third to put away the Aggies in the series finale, 9-1.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Freshman outfielder Anthony Pack Jr. went 6 for 11 (.545) in the series with two doubles and two RBIs … Junior infielder Ethan Mendoza hit two home runs to go 6 for 12 (.500) with seven RBIs … The Longhorns are batting .330 with 30 hits and 23 RBIs … The pitching staff compiled a 1.80 ERA with 35 strikeouts ... Texas returns 16 letterman and welcomes 24 newcomers.


2025 SEASON: The Longhorns finished last spring with a 44-14 overall record while finishing first in the Southeastern Conference with a 22-8 mark ... It was their best record since 2010 ... Texas hosted the NCAA Regional, bowing out to UTSA in the regional final.
LU vs. Kansas: The Cardinals are 1-0 vs. Kansas all-time … The lone meeting came on Feb. 6, 2004 at the Al Ogeltree Classic in Edinburg, resulting in a 3-2 victory.
LEADING OFF: Kansas took two out of three from UT Rio Grande Valley over the weekend … The Jayhawks fell 7-4 in Game 1 before rebounding in Game 2 by using a six-run rally in the sixth to notch a 10-3 victory … Kansas trailed by one run in the seventh inning of Game 3 before it scored twice in the eighth on a pair of sacrifice flies to sneak out of Edinburg with a 8-7 win.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:  Graduate student and outfielder Jordan Bach finished 7 for 12 (.583) this past weekend with one double, one home run and three RBIs … Junior Cade Baldridge went 5 for 12 (.417) after tallying two doubles, a home run and two RBIs … Junior Brady Ballinger tallied five RBIs on four hits … The offense recorded 29 hits which included four home runs, five doubles and one triple … The pitching staff compiled 37 strikeouts and a 5.54 ERA ... Kansas returns 10 plays and welcomes 26 newcomers.

2025 SEASON: The Jayhawks went 43-17 overall and 20-10 in the Big 12 ... Kansas qualified for the NCAA tournament and played in its first NCAA regional game since 2014 ... The program tied its second most wins in school history ... The 42 regular season wins and 20 conference victories were both the most in a regular season in school history.