Dates/Times:
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2016 at 6:00
 Probable Starters:
RHP Brent Janak (LU) vs. RHP Austin Bain (LSU)
 TV:
Cox Sports TV/ESPN3
  
BEAUMONT – A couple of undefeated teams will pay visit to Vincent-Beck Stadium this week to continue the tough early stretch for the Lamar University baseball team. On Wednesday seventh-ranked LSU will play the undefeated Cardinals at 6:00 before North Dakota State enters for a four-game tilt that starts on Friday at 6 o'clock.
 
Wednesday's contest will be carried on COX Sports and on ESPN3 for those who cannot watch the COX broadcast areas. To watch on ESPN3, fans can follow along at WatchESPN.com, on ESPN apps for Apple and android devices or on any streaming device. Lyn Rollins will bring the play-by-play for the event and Ronnie Rantz is going to have the color.  Kelsey Wingert will make an appearance as a sideline reporter.
 
The game, sponsored by the MCT Credit Union, is already sold out with the exception faculty/staff and student tickets. Faculty can purchase up to two tickets per ID, per person until 5 o'clock Wednesday at the Montagne Center ticket office. Students can get one free ticket at the Montagne Center with a valid Cardinal One Card starting at noon Wednesday.
 
MCT will be handing out t-shirts while supplies last.
 
Chartwells will have will bring several vendors to the LSU game, including a Monster truck with giveaways and a Coke trailer with sodas, popcorn and other concessions. The normal concession stand will be open was well and will add gumbo to the menu for the day. Also barbeque sandwiches and brisket and pork nachos will be sold on site from the food truck.
 
Former Cardinal Kevin Millar will be in attendance and is scheduled to throw out the first pitch. Millar was a 12-year Major League Baseball veteran and hosts Intentional Talk on the MLB Network. He won the 2004 World Series with the Boston Red Sox.
 
The Tigers (3-0) come in after a sweep of Cincinnati to open the season at Alex Box Stadium. LSU and the Cardinals have faced off 10 times in the prestigious histories and are split at 5-5, although the purple and gold have been victorious the last five matchups. This will be the fifth-straight year the programs will take the field together.
 
Lamar (4-0) opens the game after taking down No. 23 Arizona 13-5 at The Beck; 12 of the 13 runs came on homeruns. Reigning Southland Conference Hitter of the Week Jacoby Middleton had two homers in that game, one grand slam, and six runs batted in. His grand slam was one of two in the game, Brendan Satran had the other.
 
The Cardinals swept Southeastern Missouri State in a three-game set at Vincent-Beck to open the season.
 
The Tigers are scheduled to throw righty Austin Bain, who will face LU's right-hander Brent Janak. For both, it will be the first action they see this season. Through the first three games, Cole Freeman tops the Tigers in batting average (.400) and Beau Jordan in RBI (3).
 
GAME NOTES
Out to a 4-0 start
• The last time the Cardinals started 4-0 was in 2013 when they swept a four-game set with Northern Kentucky. They suffered the first loss of the year in the fifth game of the campaign, to a third-ranked LSU.
• Lamar eventually went on to a 16-2 record.
• LU went 5-0 in 2010 when North Dakota State, who LU plays over the weekend, broke the streak in game six.
 
Will Davis connection
• Last season, LU head coach in waiting was coaching third base in the College World Series with LSU.  This year he is coaching third base for the Cardinals waiting on his shot as skipper to come in 2017.
• Lamar announced that Davis would take over for Gilligan on Jan. 15. He elected to forgo his final season with the Tigers to ease the transition process.
• He coached was on the LSU staff for eight seasons, seven as an assistant coach.
 
Middleton named as the league's hitter of the week
• After his dominating performance over 23rd-ranked Arizona Monday, the Southland Conference announced that Jacoby Middleton was named the league's hitter of the Week.
• For the week, he hit .333 (5-of-15) with six runs batted in, all against UA, and three runs scored.
• His grand slam gave LU an 8-4 lead that it wouldn't let go of, and his two-run home run added insurance for the win.
 
Lamar tops in the RPI
• Although it is very early still, according to WarrenNolan.com, the Lamar University baseball team has a top-rated RBI in the nation and second-ranked strength of schedule thus far.
 
Two years since LU downed a ranked opponent
• The last time that LU defeated a ranked opponent, which it did Monday, was 2014 when it defeated No. 16 Rice 10-1. That season, the Cardinals beat #21 Houston 4-2 less than a month earlier.
• Big Red faced three ranked opponent last year, including LSU.
 
Two-out magic
• Eleven of LU's 13 runs scored against the Wildcats came with two outs.
• Of the 22 runs that the Cardinals have this season, 15 are with two outs.
 
Unusual long ball
• Lamar has five home runs so far through the first four games this year. Last year the Cardinals didn't notch their fifth dinger until the 19th game of the year.
• In the last seven years, the Cardinals have had four home runs in a game four times, the last being at New Orleans last season.
 
Mowing them down
• So far this season, the Cardinals are averaging 11.5 strikeouts per game, the season high being in the season opener at 13.
• At that pace, LU is on pace to shatter its own single-season record of 490- set in 2006.