Lamar Baseball To Host 2010 YMBL/Cardinal Classic

BEAUMONT – The Dallas Baptist and McNeese State University baseball teams will kick off the 2010 YMBL/Cardinal Classic Thursday with a 6:30 p.m. game in Vincent-Beck Stadium.

Dallas Baptist, which has lost only to perennial powerhouse University of Texas and to Texas Tech, brings an impressive 6-2 record into the four-day tournament. McNeese State, which won its first three games, is 4-3.

McNeese State and Penn State, which is 2-1 in the early going, will meet in Game 2 at 1 p.m., and host Lamar University, which has won six of seven games this season, will swing into action with a 6:30 p.m. game against Dallas Baptist.

The tournament will continue with three games on Saturday – Penn State vs. Dallas Baptist at 11 a.m., Lamar vs. Penn State at 2:30 p.m. and Lamar vs. McNeese State at 6:30 p.m. The host Cardinals and Penn State will conclude the tournament with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.

The Matchups

Thursday, March 4

Dallas Baptist vs. McNeese State, 6:30 p.m.

Friday, March 5

McNeese State vs. Penn State, 1 p.m.

Dallas Baptist vs. Lamar, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 6

Penn State vs. Dallas Baptist, 11 a.m.

Lamar vs. Penn State, 2:30 p.m.

Lamar vs. McNeese State, 6:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 7

Penn State vs. Lamar, 1 p.m.

About Lamar

Lamar is 6-1 in the early going with its loss coming to North Dakota State in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader. It halted a five-game, season-opening winning streak. The Cardinals’ most eye-opening victory was their 13-7 upset of ninth-ranked Rice University last week. The Cardinals enjoyed three, four-run innings in that game, and they’re averaging 8.3 runs per game.

About McNeese State

McNeese State  is 4-3 after losing two of three games at Louisiana Tech last weekend. The Cowboys opened their season with a three-game home sweep of Valparaiso, winning by a combvined score of 27-8. They put up a season-high 19 runs in winning the opener of the Louisiana Tech series by seven runs.

About Penn State

Penn State went 2-1 in last week’s Big Ten/Big East Challenge in Clearwater, Fla. The Nittany Lions opened with wins of 5-4 over Cincinnati and 3-2 over Seton Hall then dropped a 9-8 decision to Notre Dame in 10 innings.

About Dallas Baptist

Dallas Baptist got off to a hot start by winning six of its first seven games with the loss being to perennial national power Texas by a 7-2 score. The Patriots opened their season by sweeping a three-game sweep over UT Arlington, and they also own a three-game sweep of Western Michigan. They then dropped an 8-5 decision to Texas Tech Tuesday night to fall to 7-2.

Hitting Streaks

            First baseman Ryan Meade  and outfielder Ted Zentek will carry five-game hitting streaks into the 2010 YMBL/Cardinal Club Classic. Meade, a junior from Lewis Center, Ohio, has gone 9-for-21 for a .429 average over that stretch to raise his season average to .310. He has two doubles and one home run and is tied for the team lead in runs batted in with seven. He is tied with Aaron Buchanan for the team lead in hits with nine. Zentek, a junior from Simsbury, Md., has gone 8-for-21 for a .381 average during his streak, and he’s batting .364 for the season with two doubles and one RBI. Outfielder Anthony Moore, who did not play in the North Dakota State series because of illness, has hit safely in all four games he has played in this season. He has an early-season batting average of .375 with six hits in 16 at-bats.

Lamar vs. The YMBL Field

            Lamar will take a 16-5 all-time series advantage into its Friday night game against Dallas Baptist University. The last time the schools met in baseball, the Cardinals captured a 10-3 victory in 1992. Dallas Baptist’s last win over Lamar came by a 4-1 score, also in 1992.

             With the Cardinals holding a 107-63-1 advantgage, the Lamar vs. McNeese State series is by far the longest in school history. Lamar won the Southland Conference series against the Cowboys last season, two games to one. The Cardinals took the opener 3-2 and the finale 13-5, while the Cowboys won the middle game 8-4. Relief pitcher Ricky Testa was the winning pitcher for the Cardinals in both games.   With 19 hits in the finale, the Cardinals came within two of their season high.The teams also played a non-conference series last year with McNeese State winning both games, 10-7 and 10-9.   

            Meanwhile, Friday’s game vs. Penn State will be the first in school history for the Cardinals.

Gilligan Sixth Among Active NCAA Division I Coaches

            Lamar head coach Jim Gilligan, who is in his 34th season as a head coach and his 33rd at Lamar, ranks sixth  among NCAA Division I active coaches with 1,148 career victories. His records are 1,138-708 in 32-plus seasons at Lamar and 1,148-718 in 33-plus total seasons. His only other head-coaching stint in college came in a 10-10 season at Western New Mexico in 1971.

NCAA Winningest Active Division I Coaches

1. Augie Garrido, Texas                      1,718

2. Gene Stephenson, Wichita State    1,683

3. Mike Martin, Florida State             1,583

1. 4. Mark Marquess, Stanford               1,356

5. Jim Morris, Miami (Fla.)                 1,237

1. 6. Jim Gilligan, Lamar             1,148
2. 7. Jack Leggett, Clemson                    1,101
3. 8. Pete Dunn, Stetson                         1,097

9. Mike Fox, North Carolina               1,006

10. Steve Kittrell, South Alabama      1,000

* entering the 2010 season for all coaches except Gilligan.

Cuniff Earns Two POW Awards

            Lamar senior right-hander Spencer Cuniff was named the Southland Conference’s first Pitcher of the Week for the 2010 season last week, and he was named the Regional Pitcher of the Week by Baseball America.  A 6-foot, 205-pounder from Hamshire-Fannett, Cuniff earned the victory in the Cardinals’ 5-4, 17-inning decision over Maine University. He held the Black Bears scoreless over the final eight innings, allowing five hits (all singles) and struck out five batters without issuing walk. Opposing hitters managed a .105 average against him, and he had  three, three-up and three-down innings.

Harrington, Mathis Honored On Preseason All-SLC Team

            Eric Harrington and Wade Mathis are Lamar's only representatives  on the 2010 Preseason All-Southland Conference Team. Harrington, a sophomore left-hander earned a first-team berth, while Mathis, a junior first baseman/designated hitter was voted to the second team as a DH.

            Harrington, a product of Port Neches-Groves High School, won his first seven decisions and finished the 2009 season with an 8-1 record with an SLC-best 3.01 earned run average and was voted the league’s Freshman of the Year in addition to making two Freshman All-America teams. He earned the win in Lamar’s 4-2 season-opening victory over Maine this season and got a no decision in his second start vs. North Dakota State. Through two games, he is 1-0 with an 8.64 earned run average, and he has six strikeouts and four bases on balls in 8.1 innings.

            Mathis, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound, two-year letterman from Wharton, batted .229 last season and had four doubles, three home runs and 16 runs batted in. In six games this season, he has four hits in 19 at-bats for a .211 average. He has two doubles, one home run and four runs batted in.

Cardinals Picked Third in SLC Preseason Polls

            Lamar was picked to finish third in the preseason poll voting by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. The Cardinals received three first-place votes in the coaches’ poll and two in the SIDs’ poll. Texas State, last year’s regular-season champion, placed first in both polls, and Sam Houston State, the three-time defending SLC Tournament champion, was second in both polls.

Coaches’ Poll                         Sports Information Directors’ Poll

1. Texas State (5)                    1. Texas State (6)

2. Sam Houston State (4)        2. Sam Houston State (4)

1. 3. Lamar (3)                            3. Lamar (2)

4. Southeastern Louisiana       4. Southeastern Louisiana

1. 5. UTSA                                  5. UTSA

6. UT Arlington                      6. UT Arlington

1. 7. Northwestern State             7. Northwestern State
2. 8. Stephen F. Austin               8. Stephen F.  Austin

9. Central Arkansas                 9. McNeese State

1. 10. McNeese State                  10. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

11. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi          11. Central Arkansas

1. 12. Nicholls                 12. Nicholls  

Lamar Signs Four Players in November

1.             Lamar signed four players to national letters of Intent during the fall signing period. They are outfielder Damon Loewen of Clarendon College, third baseman/pitcher Kane Benoit of Port Neches Groves and pitchers Trae’ Hester of Vidor and Shane Hamaker of Alvin Community College.                                    

Loewen stands 6-foot-2 and is a product of Abbotsford, British Columbia. He will have three years of eligibility remaining, and he posted a sizzling .404 batting average last spring at Clarendon.

            Before going to Alvin Community College, the 6-5, 225-pound Hamaker, a right-hander, was an All-Greater Houston selection in baseball and an all-district performer in both baseball and basketball at Pasadena Memorial High School.

            Benoit, a 6-0, 185-pound right-hander, posted a combined 12-3 record and 2.33 earned run average over the past two seasons at PN-G. He was an All-District 20-4A selection last spring, and he also earned honorable mention on the 2009 Texas Sports Writers Association 4A All-State Team. 

            Hester, a 6-foot, 190-pound left-hander, was also an All-District 20-4A pitcher for Vidor last spring. Like Benoit, he also helped his football team make the playoffs last fall. He was coached in high school by former Lamar pitcher Kyle Green, and Benoit’s high school coach was Jay Stone, another former Lamar pitcher.

Home, Sweet Home

            The Cardinals thrived at home last season, winning 27 of 36 games before their devoted fans for an impressive .750 percentage. They went 9-11 away from home, however, and 2-2 on a neutral field in the 2009 Southland Conference Tournament. For comparison’s sake, the 2008 Cardinals went 20-10 in Vincent-Beck Stadium, 11-10 on the road and 4-3 in neutral-site games for an overall record of 35-23. This season, the Cardinals are 5-1 at home with the loss being by a 10-9 margin to North Dakota State.

The Other Skippers

            Dallas Baptist coach Daniel Heefner owns a record of 81-38 in two-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach, all at DBU. His 2009 Patriot club went 38-17.  The graduate of Olivet Nazarene University is working with 20 returning lettermen from last season’s team, including outfielders Jason Krizan and Ryan Enos, who posted respective batting averages of .389 and .376 last season. The Patriots’ top returning pitcher is junior right-hander Chris Haney, who had a 4-4 record and 4.64 earned run average last season.

            Penn State’s Robbie Wine has a 133-147 record in five-plus seasons with the Nittany Lions. His 2009 club went 25-26 overall, and the Nittany Lions finished eighth in the Big Ten Conference with an 8-16 mark. He is working with 20 returning lettermen from last season’s team, including sophomore third baseman Jordan Steranka, who batted .365 with nine home runs and 42 runs batted in as a freshman. The Nittany Lions’ top returning pitchers are senior right-hander Mike Wanamaker (6-5, 3.41), senior left-hander David Lutz (4-2, 3.38) and sophomore righty Ryan Ignas (5-1, 5.31).

            McNeese State skipper Terry Burrows has posted a 38-75 record in two-plus seasons as a collegiate head coach, all with the Cowboys. His 2009 club went 21-30 and finished 10 thin the Southland Conference with a 10-22 mark.

Shooting for Another Hot Start

            The Cardinals came up short of matching last year’s school-record-setting streak of nine-consecutive victories to open the season, but they’re 6-1 entering the 2010 YMBL/Cardinal Classic, giving them an excellent chance to post another strong start.

            After edging Austin Peay 1-0 in their 2009 season opener, the Cardinals won their next eight games before finally losing to Columbia 15-8 on March 1 in Vincent-Beck Stadium. The nine-consecutive wins to open the season earned them a No. 28 ranking by Collegiate Baseball. They went on to go 14-2 in their 16-game homestand to open the season. The last time the Cardinals were ranked in the Top 25 was on Feb. 23, 2004, when they were No. 24.

Who’s Hot?

            For players who have 10 or more at-bats, sophomore outfielder Kevin Roebuck is toting the hottest stick going into the 2010 MNBL/Carnial Classic. He is batting .417 and has two runs batted in. ... Other big sticks belong to senior outfielder Anthony Moore (.375 average with one double, one triple and three RBIs), junior outfielder Ted Zentek (.364 with two doubles and one RBI), junior outfielder Clayton Farhat (.353 with one homer and six RBIs), second baseman Aaron Buchanan (.321 with four doubles and seven RBIs), third baseman Pablo Salinas (.320 with three doubles, one triple and six RBIs) and first baseman Ryan Meade (.310 with two doubles, one homer and seven RBIs. ... With wins in both of his starts, senior right-hander Mattison is among the hottest Cardinals’ pitchers. He has struck out 11 batters and walked only four in 13 innings and sports a glossy 0.69 earned run average. ... Also, senior right-hander Spencer Cuniff is 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA, and senior righty Cory Holley is 1-0 with a 1.23. ... In his only appearance so far, junior righty Jake Henderson threw 3.2 innings of hitless and scoreless ball, while striking out four.

Who’s Not?

            Outfielder Quentin Luquette, who was Lamar’s hottest hitter during the latter part of the 2009 season, is off to a slow start to his senior season. The 5-foot-9, 160-pounder from Klein High School has just two hits -- both singles -- in 15 at-bats for a .133 average.      By hitting safely in 17 of his final 19 games last season, Luquette raised his batting average to .316, making him the Cardinals’ top returning hitter for this season. ... Others who have struggled at the plate in the early going include sophomore catcher Cameron Johnson (1-for-12 for an .083 average), sophomore shortstop V.J. Bunner (2-for-13, .154 average) and senior catcher Joey Latulippe (2-for-11, .182).

Looking Ahead

            After this weekend’s YMBL/Cardinal Classic, the Cardinals will have only a pair of non-conference games against Prairie View A&M Tuesday and Wednesday in Vincent-Beck Stadium before kicking off their 2010 Southland Conference race with a three-game series at Nicholls next Friday.

            The Cardinals own a 31-3 all-time series advantage against Prairie View, and they’re 45-28 all-time vs. Nicholls. They split two games with the Panthers last season and they took two of three from the Colonels.

BY: Lamar University Sports Information Department