Feb. 18, 2013

BEAUMONT - The Lamar baseball team is off to its best start since 2010 after going 4-0 this past weekend against Northern Kentucky, but getting to 5-0 will be quite the task as the Cardinals hit the road to take on ninth-ranked LSU at Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Lamar will be looking for retribution in Baton Rouge after losing 5-4 to the then-No. 1 Tigers in a mid-week meeting last season. LU is 5-2 all-time against LSU, widely considered among the best programs in college baseball history. The last Card win in the series came in 1994 in 4-3 fashion at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

In last year's meeting, the trio of Jude Vidrine, Darian Johnson and Seth Dornak combined for seven of LU's eight hits, with Vidrine scoring twice and Johnson homering and knocking in three runs. The group will be key on Tuesday, and after hitting .563 and recording eight runs batted in over the weekend, Sam Bumpers will be looking to contribute as well.

Freshman Jayson McKinley will be making his debut on the mound for the Red and White after earning All-District honors last season for Friendswood High School.

McKinley will have a chance to shine on one of the biggest stages in college baseball on Tuesday as LSU averaged 10,736 fans per game last season, nearly 3,000 more than the second team in the rankings. Over the weekend, the Tigers drew 12,373 in the opener against Maryland.

LSU went 3-0 in the weekend series vs. the Terrapins, hitting .302 and outscoring the visitors from the ACC 20-4. Cody Glenn will get the start on the mound after making 11 appearances last season. The sophomore lefty carried a 1-0 record with a 5.62 earned run average over 16.0 innings of work in 2012.

First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

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