Lamar sports information
NACOGDOCHES – There’s just one regular season weekend series left in the long and successful career of Lamar head coach Jim Gilligan. And with the Southland Conference tournament less than one week away, it’ll be a big weekend in terms of seeding when the Cardinals take the field at Stephen F. Austin in league action at Jaycees Field.
The series is slated to start Thursday night at 6:30, although the weather may have a say in that. The second game is scheduled for 2 o’clock Friday and the regular season finale will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Heading into the weekend, Lamar (32-17, 17-10 Southland Conference) has the fourth seed while Stephen F. Austin (27-25, 14-13) sits with the sixth seed- still battling to lock a spot in the tournament.
For the Cardinals, the series also gives them a chance to right the ship before they head into the tourney. Big Red has dropped seven of its last eight, and is being outscored by a hair less than three runs a game in the stretch.
As he has all season, right-hander Will Hibbs (9-2, 2.92 earned run average) will take the mound for Lamar in the first game of the series. The senior was touched up early against Sam Houston State, but settled in and eventually finished the game strong. He’s pitched 86 1/3 innings this year with just 28 earned runs scored on him. He’s struck out 90 batters with only 24 walks.
Southpaw Patrick Ledet (6-1, 3.62) will oppose him on the hill. Ledet has pitched 69 2/3 innings with 28 earned runs allowed. He’s punched out 61 hitters and walked 20. For SFA, LHP Erik Nouis (4-4, 3.86) will take the hillFriday night. He’s worked a team-high 72 1/3 innings with 31 earned runs allowed. He will be opposed by righty Billy Love (5-4, 3.76).
Neither team has chosen a starter for the season finale.
The Lumberjacks have a stout offensive group that is hitting .301 for the season with an average of 6.8 runs per game. Connor Fikes leads the team with a .371 batting average, Nick Ramos leads with 47 runs scored, Kyle Thornell has 11 home runs on the year and Garrett McMullen has 55 run batted in.
McMullen is hitting .364, Thornell is at .348, Zac Michener is hitting .341 and Tyler Kendrick hits .330 on the year.
Stijn van der Meer has taken hold of the top spot in the batting average race at Lamar. His .370 average narrowly edges Reid Russell’s .369. Russell is the league’s leader in homers (16) and his 57 RBI ranks second, shy of Jameson Fisher’s 59.
Van der Meer has a shot at finishing in the top five at in LU’s career batting average list. His .360 average sits fifth heading in. Russell is two homers shy of tying Michael Ambort’s school record 18, and he could be the first Cardinal to 60 RBI since Ambort did it in 2007.
Jake Nash, who is hitting .308, has 40 runs scored and 39 driven in. With one more run, he would be the first 40-40 player at LU since Darian Johnson and Sam Bumpers in 2013. Bryndan Arredondo is hitting .309 on the year and Cutter McDowell is on the brink of .300 at .298.
As a team, the Cardinals are hitting .295 with a 6.2 runs per game average.
Tickets to the Southland Conference Tournament are already on sale. An all-tournament pass, which allows entry into all 15 possible games of the tournament, is $60. A single-day pass, which will include four games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a possibility of three games on Saturday, is $18 each day.
Children five and under will be admitted free of charge, while students at Southland Conference Institutions will also gain free admission with a valid student ID.
Students at Southland Conference institutions will also gain free admission with a valid student ID.
Tickets are available for purchase at the Constellation Field box office, by phone at 281-240-4487 and online at sugarlandskeeters.com. Online orders are subject to a $2 service charge per ticket.