Thursday, March 31, 2011

On Deck - Lions vs Lamar


SLU Lions (17-9, 5-4 SLC) vs Lamar Cardinals (18-10, 6-3 SLC)
"The Pat" - Hammond, LA
Game 1:  6pm Friday April 1
Game 2:  2pm Saturday April 2
Game 3:  1pm Sunday April 3

The Line on the Lions
Offense:  .299
Pitching:  3.69
Defense:  .952
Ranking:  n/a
Boyd's World RPI:  62
Last 10 Games:  5-5
Last 5 Games:  3-2
Streak:  W2

The Line on the Lamar Cardinals
Offense:  .292
Pitching:  3.58
Defense:  .972
Ranking:  n/a
Boyd's World RPI:  86
Last 10 Games:  6-4
Last 5 Games:  2-3
Streak:  W1

What to Watch For:
The Lions top hitters are Justin Boudreaux (.415/5/27), Jonathan Pace (.393/1/21), and Brock Hebert (.359/1/15).  Lamar's top pitchers are Blake Ford (2.56, 3-2), Jonathan Dziedzic (4.73, 1-1), and Shane Hamaker (1.98, 4-2).

The Lions top pitchers are Tyler Watkins (2.09, 4-0), Brandon Efferson (4.50, 4-1), and Josh Janway (2.08, 2-0).  SLU closer Stafan Lopez (1.02, 5 Saves) has 23 Ks in 17.2 innings pitched.  The top hitters for Lamar are Wade Mathis (.368/2/23), Ted Zentek (.333/0/14), Joey Latulippe (.322/0/20), and Kevin Roebuck (.322/4/24).

Last Time They Played - Last season Lamar won the series in Beaumont, TX taking game one 7-4 and game two 8-1.  The Lions salvaged the series with a 5-1 victory in game three.  When they met in Hammond in 2009 SLU won the series by winning game one by the mercy rule 11-1 and taking game three 10-4.  Lamar won game two 10-1.

Why a Rivalry? - Well it is no secret there is no love lost between the Lions and Cardinals, as each series gets pretty intense.  But the match ups do showcase some pretty good baseball.  Since 2006 when Jay Artigues arrived in Hammond Lamar leads the series 10-8.  During those five years there has never been a series sweep and the home team has won each series.  In 2008, when the rivalry really got heated, they played each other three times in the SLC tourney with  Lamar winning two of the three games.

Chicks Dig the Long Ball - With the Lions always being riduculed by Lamar coach Jim Gilligan for playing "small ball" against his pitching and power hitting teams, the Lions enter the series with 17 home runs.  Gilligan's boys come in with seven.  SLU's long ball leader is Jeff Harkensee - with seven.  (All you little league players need to be swinging Marucci's like the Lions)

In the History Books - Brandon Efferson's 20 career wins ranks 4th most all time as he is tied with Wade Miley.  With one more victory Efferson will move into 3rd place.  Kenny Lehrmann is the school's all time leader in wins with 25.

In the History Books II - Josh Cryer notched his 200th career hit in his 2-3 performance against Southern on Tuesday night, ranking him 5th all time in program history.  With his next hit Cryer will move into 4th place.

Leader Board - Justin Boudreaux leads the SLC in hits with 44 and total bases with 73.  Jeff Harkensee leads the SLC in RBIs with 35.  Trey Martin leads the conference in hit by pitches with 10.

National Scene - Boudreaux's 34 runs scored ranks 3rd in the nation.  Harkensee's 35 RBIs rank 5th in the nation.

No comments: