BEAUMONT, Texas — Fresh off its first weekend road trip series win of the season, the Lamar University baseball team takes on its second top 25 program.

The Cardinals travel to College Station for a marquee matchup with No. 23 Texas A&M at Blue Bell Park before quickly beginning Southland Conference play on Friday.
HOT START: A.J. Taylor leads the offense with a .407 average, .704 slugging percentage, .484 on base percentage and 1.188 on base + slugging percentage … Taylor went 5 for 12 (.417) in the series against UT Arlington with two home runs and three RBIs … He has recorded three two-hit games while he sports an eight-game hitting streak … Taylor is tied for the team lead in hits with 11 … He ranks in the top 15 in the Southland Conference in runs scored (tied for sixth), hits (tied for ninth), total bases (tied for 10th), OPS (11th), batting average (12th) and slugging percentage (12th).

GETTING ON BASE: Beau Durbin sports an eight-game hitting streak while he leads the team in RBIs (11) and is tied for the team lead in hits (11) and doubles (4), and second with a .344 average … Durbin also leads the Southland in RBIs … Tab Tracy is also riding an eight-game hitting streak with a .323 average, 10 hits and five RBIs … Braden Benton has reached base safely in his last eight games … Benton went 4 for 9 (.444) in his last two games with a double, home run and an RBI.

KD: Kevin Duran is tied for second in the Southland in doubles (4) … He has tallied three multi-hit games which includes a three-hit performance during Game 2 against UT Arlington.

LU VS. THE TOP 25: The Cardinals will face four top 25 programs this season, the most since 2016 … LU faces No. 3 Texas, No. 18 TCU, No. 19 Oregon State and No. 23 Texas A&M … The programs last win over a top 25 program came in 2024 during a three-game sweep vs. No. 25 Oklahoma.

LU PITCHING: The Cardinals have the third best staff in the conference with a 4.84 ERA and three saves while they are sixth in strikeouts (75).

BEST IN THE CONFERENCE: Chris Olivier is tied for the conference lead in strikeouts (17) and ERA (0.00) … Olivier also ranks third in the conference in innings pitched (11.2) and fifth in opposing batting average (.146) … Olivier is tied for 21st in the nation in strikeouts … He has walked three batters in 11.2 innings pitched while sporting a .77 WHIP.

SAVING THE DAY: Nathan Darden is tied for the conference lead in saves with two after tallying four innings in five appearances.

FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS: Jarret Williams has eight strikeouts in two appearances and five scoreless innings …  Williams made his first career start in Game 3 against UT Arlington striking out three batters in 2.2 innings … Jarret is the son of Randy Williams who played at LU from 1995-1997 … Randy was a 12th round selection by the Chicago Cubs in 1997 as he went on to play for five years in the majors with five different teams.

TIES TO TEXAS A&M: Jace Hutchins, who enters his first season as the pitching coach, is a native of College Station and a former student assistant for the Aggies in 2024 … He was promoted to director of program and pitching development in 2025 … He is a former Marion Pugh Spirit Award winner in 2023 when his season was cut short by injury … Jace's father, Jason, has been serving as the director of baseball operations at Texas A&M since 1998 … Jack Hardgrove, the director of program development, worked as an intern with the Aggies beginning in 2022 … Tracy batted .326 in 2023 with Texas A&M before redshirting in 2024. LU vs. Texas A&M: Both teams are playing each other for the 46th time since the first meeting in 1971 … The Aggies lead the all-time series, 37-8 … Texas A&M has won the last two meetings by a combined score of 26-8 … The last time LU won in the series was in 2023, which marked the programs first victory over the Aggies since April 10, 2000.