STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific baseball team heads to the Lone Star State for a three-game series against Lamar at Vincent-Beck Stadium.

The Tigers (3-13) are coming off a walk-off win at home, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth to claim a 6-5 win over Utah Valley. Looking to ride that momentum into the rest of the week, Pacific travels to Lamar (12-4) for its second road series of the season.
 
Winners of six straight, the Cardinals' recent success has been due in large part to the Southland's pitching staff. Lamar enters the week as the league leaders in earned run average (3.73) while holding opponents to a .221 batting average to go along with and 149 strikeouts.
 
After taking two of three from UT Arlington, Lamar then went on the road to defeat Stephen F. Austin before returning home to sweep UMBC and continued that success Tuesday against Southern.
 
Prior to the season's beginning, Lamar received a first-place vote and were picked second in the 2024 Southland Conference Preseason Poll. In addition, the Cardinals also had eight players (four first-team and four second-team selections) named to the preseason All-SLC teams.
 
Led by first-team selections Ethan Ruiz, Brooks Caple, Hunter Hesseltine and Kanin Dodge, the Cardinals had the most representatives of all schools on the preseason squad, and the second-most first-team selections behind Nicholls. Starting pitchers Caple and Hesseltine were automatic first-team nods due to earning postseason recognition last season, while the rest of Lamar's selections were voted on by the league head coaches.
 
Brayden Evans is a name to watch out this weekend as he leads Lamar with five home runs, 16 runs and 12 RBIs, while hitting .298 in 57 at-bats. River Orsak paces the Cardinals in batting average with a .400 mark (22-for-55), including three home runs and 14 runs.
 
Caple is at the front of the pitching staff for Lamar, sporting a 2-2 record with a team-low 1.50 earned run average in 24.0 innings of work.
 
Sophomore Jack Metcho has been electric for Pacific, reaching safely in all 16 games with a team-high .351 batting average, five extra-base hits, a team-best 10 RBIs and four stolen bases. Metcho's three triples put him in a tie for second in the West Coast Conference and a tie for fourth in the country.
 
Sophomore Kaden Petersen has supplied some power at the plate, tied for the team lead in home runs with two. Senior Chase Graves has demonstrated his great eye at the plate, taking a team-high 19 walks, which ranks first in the WCC and tied for 19th in the country.
 
Junior Ethan Shaver continues to hold the fort down for the pitching staff as the team's top starter, owning a 1-1 record with a 5.71 ERA in 17.1 innings.
 
The series will kick off Friday with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch. Saturday is set for a 3:05 p.m. first pitch and the series will close with a 10:05 a.m. contest Sunday. The Saturday and Sunday games will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Friday's game will not be streamed.
 
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