NEW ORLEANS – Playing just its second and third road games of 2018, Lamar University (3-5) will face Tulane University (3-3) in two mid-week games in the Big Easy. The Cardinals and Green Wave open Tuesday night at 6:30, and play again Wednesday at 4 p.m. Though the two teams have met 14 games before this year's series, it will be the first meeting since 1995.

The Last Time Out - Hofstra
Lamar allowed just three earned runs and five runs total to Hofstra through four games last week but ended up splitting the series 2-2. The Cards took both games of the Friday doubleheader, winning 2-1 in the series opener and 3-0 in the evening game. LU held a 1-0 lead through eight innings in Saturday's first game only to fall 3-2 in 10 innings and dropped a 1-0 decision to the Pride in the series finale. Lamar's pitching staff held an incredible 0.51 ERA through the Hofstra series.

Lamar vs. Tulane

Series Record
Lamar vs. Tulane: Tulane leads 8-6
Lamar vs. Tulane at Vincent-Beck: Tulane leads 1-0
Lamar vs. Tulane at Greer Field Turchin Stadium: Tulane leads 6-5
Lamar vs. Tulane at a Neutral Site: Tied 1-1

Scheduled Starters:
Tuesday: LHP Jason Blanchard (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Bates (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Wednesday: LHP Taylor Rich (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. RHP Chase Solesky (0-0, 7.71 ERA)

Tulane is 3-3 this season with all three of its wins coming at home in its opening series against a perennially good Wright State team. The Green Wave are currently riding a three-game losing streak though after getting swept at Ole Miss.

Similarly to Lamar, Tulane prides itself on its ability to turn a double play. The Green Wave are second in the American Athletic Conference in double plays turned per game, averaging 1.00. Their pitching staff has struggled a bit with an ERA of 5.37, and their offense ranks ninth in the conference in scoring, averaging 4.8 runs per game.

Matt Rowland has three moonshots so far this season, a major uptick from the one homer he'd had in his previous two seasons with the Green Wave. Jonathon Artigues leads the team in batting average, hitting .375 in six games, and Sal Gozzo has been a consistent threat on the base paths so far this year with three stolen bases on three attempts.
 
News and Notes from Lamar

BIG RED HAS A BIG PRESENCE AMONG STATISTICAL LEADERS
Both as a team and as individuals, the Cardinals statistically are a remarkable team. LU's two shutouts this season leads the country and is fifth in the nation, and Big Red's ERA of 2.31 is also tops in the Southland and ranks 31st nationally.

The Cardinal defense has been deadly in double plays, ranking fourth in the league and 17th nationally in total double plays this year with nine. Their average of 1.13 double plays turned per game is also fourth among Southland teams.

Teams are averaging just 7.46 hits per nine innings against Lamar's staff, the third-best among SLC teams.

Noah Sills continues to impress in his debut season, maintaining a perfect 0.00 ERA with a perfect 2-0 record. The junior from Honolulu, Hawaii, has struck out nine while allowing nine hits and just one walk through 11.2 innings pitched.

Tanner Driskill's two saves in three appearances leads the Southland and is 22nd nationally.

SECREST STREAK CONTINUES
Cole Secrest has reached first at least once in every game so far in his Cardinal career. Robin Adames has the active career best, reaching 26 games in a row in 2016.

FOR DRISKILL, CONSISTENCY IS KING
Tanner Driskill has been one of the best pitchers in the NCAA across his career, and that's pretty evident looking at his stat line. His career ERA of 2.74 is the 36th-best among the 1,000+ active pitchers in Division 1 baseball, his average of 6.96 hits per nine innings ranks 33rd among active pitchers, and his 1.69 walks per nine innings is 26th in the country.

FROM AVERAGE OUTFIELDER TO ACE PITCHER
Ryan Erickson started his Cardinal career as an outfielder, playing the entire 2016 season in the position. He started 10 games that season and appeared in 14 more. He was perfect in 27 fielding opportunities.

In 2017 Coach Davis and the rest of his staff decided to transition Erickson to pitching, where the then-sophomore initially struggled. He had a 30.86 ERA in 2.1 innings pitched in three appearances, giving up eight runs, all earned, on eight hits while striking out two.

2018 has been a renaissance for Erickson, who has a 0.00 ERA through 5.1 innings pitched in two appearances. He's struck out nine while allowing no hits and walking just one so far this season.

THE 'BO JACKSONS' OF THEIR TIME
Jack Dallas and Kirkland Banks are both members of the Lamar University baseball team and football team. The duo make LU one of just five NCAA Division 1 schools with two multi-sport athletes. The others are California's Brandon McIlwain and Conor Neumann, Minnesota's Jacob Herbers and Drew Hmielewski, Penn State's Mac Hippenhammer and Matt McCutcheon, and Western Illinois's Justin Fitzpatrick and Steve McShane.

NEW FACES, SAME TEAM
14 players return from a 2017 team that won 33 games and had five All-Conference players. Of those returning Cards, 11 were members of a stout lineup that ranked fourth in the SLC in batting average (.287), home runs (48), total hits (569), and scoring (6.4 runs per game).

Of those 12 pitchers who left, two (Tod McDowell and Nathan Gabryszwki) are redshirting this season, and four (Galen Andrews, Brent Janak, Brett Brown, and Ryan Cawthon) graduated. Carson Lance (16th round, Detroit) and Jimmy Johnson (28th round, Arizona) were drafted.