Nearing the midway mark of its Southland Conference schedule, the Lamar University baseball team seems in need of a spark.
The Cardinals’ strong start to the season hasn’t quite carried over into conference action. Their 7-9 Southland record is good for ninth in the standings — currently on the outside looking in for a conference tournament berth.
The good news? One strong series could completely change Lamar’s outlook. Teams are bunched up in the Southland standings, leaving the door open for any school to make a run in the second half of the schedule.
This weekend offers a great opportunity for Lamar to start such a run. The Cardinals welcome Nicholls (14-17, 9-7) to Beaumont for a four-game set beginning tonight at Vincent-Beck Stadium. It’s a very winnable series that could do wonders for the Cardinals as they try to climb back up the standings.
Not to place too much importance on one series, but it feels like this weekend could be the perfect turning point for Lamar’s postseason hopes.
Lamar hasn’t been to the Southland tournament since 2017 — a long drought for a proud Cardinals program. The team started strong this spring, winning eight of its first 10 games in non-conference play.
However, as has been the case in past seasons, Lamar’s Southland schedule has proved to be a different story. The Cardinals lost six of seven games from March 20-28, although four of those defeats came to conference leader Southeastern Louisiana.
Since then, Lamar keeps taking one step forward and one step back. The Cardinals are coming off a series split on the road against Northwestern State, which actually was a strong result given the Demons’ fourth-place standing.
Split road series, win the home ones. If the Cardinals can do that, they should be just fine.
But that has to start this weekend against Nicholls. The Colonels will limp into Beaumont having lost five of their last six games. Lamar needs to take advantage with a series win.
I firmly believe the Cardinals have the potential to be a top-four team in the league. The stats certainly back that up.
Lamar leads the Southland in team ERA at 3.32, and, after a slow hitting start, the Cardinals’ batters are beginning to come around, too. Lamar ranks third leaguewide with a team batting average of .281.
It’s time those gaudy stats start translating into wins.
We’ve seen Lamar wait too long to turn around a season before. In 2018, the Cardinals ended the season by sweeping rival McNeese but came one game short of a conference tournament appearance nonetheless.
Lamar came no where close to a tournament spot in 2019, and last season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.
There’s no reason the Cardinals can’t return to the tournament this year, but it has to start now, before they fall too far behind.
mfaye@beaumontenterprise.com
twitter.com/mattGfaye