12 NCAA Regional Appearances * 11 Conference Championships * 2007 & 2008 SLC East Division Champions

Baseball SID: Rush Wood * Office Phone: (409) 880-7845 * Cell: (409) 659-8531 * E-mail: [email protected] 2010 Schedule/Results Lamar (30-22, 15-15) vs. Stephen F. Austin (32-17, 18-11) F 19 Maine W 4-2 F 20 Maine W 6-1 Thursday, May 20, 6:30 p.m.; Friday, F 20 Maine W 5-4 (17 inns.) May 21, 6:3- p.m.; Saturday, May 22, 1 p.m. F 24 at No. 9 Rice W 13-7 Beaumont, * Vincent-Beck Stadium (3,500) F 27 North Dakota State W 9-7 Radio: KLVI 560 AM (Thursday, Friday games only) F 27 North Dakota State L 9-10 F 28 North Dakota State W 12-5 Jockeying for Position Cardinals hold a commanding 44-7 advantage M 5 Dallas Baptist W 7-3 With a berth in the 2010 Southland Confer - in the series that began with a 4-0 home win in M 6 Penn State W 4-0 ence Tournament already secured, the Cardinals 1979. Lamar won three of four games from the McNeese State L 9-12 will go into this weekend’s regular-season-clos - Lumberjacks the next season and went on to win M 7 Penn State W 8-3 ing series against Stephen F. Austin jockeying 23 in a row in the series until the Jacks finally notched an 11-9 victory in Nacogdoches in 1987. M 9 Prairie View A&M W 16-1 for their final seeding position. At 15-15 in SLC The Cardinals took two of three games M 10 Prairie View A&M W 4-2 play entering the series, the Cardinals are tied from the Lumberjacks in Nacogdohes last sea - M 12 * at Nicholls State L 2-9 with McNeese State for sixth place. Depending on the outcomes of this weekend’s games, they son, winning the bookend games 9-3 and 16-4 in M 13 * at Nicholls State L 4-12 could finish anywhere from fifth to eighth place. seven innings. They lost the middle game 11-7. M 14 * at Nichols State W 7-3 The Cardinals helped themselves by winning Eric Harrington got the first-game win, scatter - M 17 Texas Southern W 8-3 two of three at UT Arlington. Junior designated ing seven hits over the first six innings. James M 17 Texas Southern W 15-9 hitter Ryan Meade enjoyed a sensational game Brandhorst was the winning pitcher in the third M 19 *Central Arkansas L 3-4 in the series opener by hitting two home runs game, allowing seven hits over the first five in - M 20 *Central Arkansas L 9-10 and driving in eight runs. Junior second base - nings. M 21 *Central Arkansas W 8-7 man Andy Mena and junior shortstop Aaron M 26 *at Texas State L 7-8 Buchanan also had productive series, going 7- Last S.F. Austin Series M 27 *at Texas State L 1-12 for-12 and 9-for-16, respectively, and freshman The Lumberjacks lost all three of their M 28 *at Texas State L 2-5 left-hander Jonathan Dziedzic had the most im - home games to Southeastern Louisiana last M 30 Rice L 2-7 pressive pitching outing of the series by posting weekend to drop from second place to fourth in A 1 *SE Louisiana W 7-4 seven shutout innings in the middle game. the league standings. After holding a 7-5 lead in A 2 *SE Louisiana W 8-1 the finale, the Jacks surrendered nine unan - A 3 *SE Louisiana L 1-5 The Lamar-SFA Series swered runs. The also lost the series opener 7- A 6 Houston Baptist L 0-2 This will be the 52nd meeting between 1 and the middle game 10-6. They have now lost A 7 Houston Baptist L 4-12 Lamar and Stephen F. Austin in baseball. The a season-high four-straight games. A 9 *at A&M-Corpus Christi W 16-3 A 10 *at A&M-Corpus Christi L 4-5 The Weekend’s Probable Pitching Matchups A 11 *at A&M-Corpus Christi W 9-2 A 13 Texas-Pan American L 7-9 Date Opponent Starting Pitchers A 13 Texas-Pan American W 10 -0 Thur., 5/20 Stephen LU - RHP - No. 40 Matison Smith (9-2, 3.73 ERA, 58 SOs) A 16 *Sam Houston State W 5-2 6:30 p.m. F. Austin SFA - LHP - No. 20 Tyler Herriage (7-2, 2.40 ERA, 60 SOs) A 17 *Sam Houston State W 4-0 A 18 *Sam Houston State W 14-7 Fri., 5/21 Stephen LU - RHP - No. 14 Jonathan Dziedzic (4-4, 4.76 ERA, 87 SOs) A 21 Houston W 7-6 6:30 p.m. F. Austin SFA - RHP - No. 12 Brad Oates (2-1, 3.07 ERA, 23 SOs) A 23 * UTSA W 4-2 A 24 * UTSA W 13-9 Sat. 5/22 Stephen LU - TBA A 25 * UTSA L 4-14 1 p.m. F. Austin SFA - RHP - No. 15 Justin Braddock (5-3, 5.06 ERA, 38 SOs) A 28 at Houston L 7-8 (11 inns.) A 30 *at McNeese State L 3-7 Lamar’s Probable Position Starters M 1 *McNeese State L 3-6 M 1 *McNeese State L 3-5 Pos. No. Name B-T Ht. Yr. Hometown AVG HR RBI M 8 *at Northwestern State W 7-3 C 16 Joey Latulippe R-R 6-2 Jr. League City, Texas .261 3 23 *at Northwestern State L 4-10 1B 24 Wade Mathis L-R 6-2 Jr. Wharton, Texas .333 4 38 M 9 *at Northwestern State W 9-6 (10 inns.) SS 1 Aaron Buchanan L-R 5-6 Jr. Houston, Texas .345 0 31 M 15 *at UT Arlington W 22-5 2B 21 Andy Mena R-R 6-1 Jr. Huffman, Texas .377 2 31 3B 20 Pablo Salinas R-R 5-11 Jr. League City, Texas .326 2 24 M 15 *at UT Arlington W 8-1 RF 5 Quentin Luquette R-R 5-9 Sr. Houston, Texas .316 5 47 M 16 *at UT Arlington L 8-11 CF 42 Anthony Moore L-L 5-11 Sr. Cedar Hill, Texas .270 7 25 M 20 *Stephen F. Austin 6:30 p.m. LF 12 Clayton Farhat L-R 6-0 Jr. Plano, Texas .259 1 14 M 21 *Stephen F. Austin 6:30 p.m. DH 17 Ryan Meade R-R 6-3 Jr. Lewis Center, Ohio .275 5 36 M 22 *Stephen F. Austin 1 p.m. M 26-29 at SLC Tournament (Corpus Christi, Texas) Southland Standings Gilligan Sixth Among Active Lamar Quick Facts Overall Conference NCAA Division I Coaches Founded ...... 1923 W-L-T Pct. W-L-T Pct. Lamar University’s Jim Gilligan, who is in his Enrollment ...... 14,054 SE Louisiana 39-14-0 .736 21-9-0 .700 34th season as a head coach and his 33rd at Texas State 32-19-0 .627 21-9-0 .700 Lamar, ranks sixth among NCAA Division I active Nickname ...... Cardinals Northwestern State 33-19-0 .635 19-10-0 .655 coaches with 1,172 career victories. His records School Colors ...... Red and White are 1,162-729 in 32-plus seasons at Lamar and Stephen F. Austin 32-17-0 .653 18-11-0 .621 Home Field ...... Vincent-Beck Stadium 1,172-739 in 33-plus total seasons. His only other UT Arlington 26-27-0 .491 18-12-0 .600 Capacity ...... 3,500 head-coaching stint in college came in a 10-10 Dimensions ...... L-C-R: 325-380-325 Lamar 30-22-0 .577 15-15-0 .500 season at Western New Mexico in 1971. McNeese State 28-23-0 .549 15-15-0 .500 Conference ...... Southland Nicholls 24-26-0 .480 13-17-0 .433 NCAA Winningest Active Division I Coaches President ...... Dr. James M. Simmons UTSA 20-27-0 .426 11-19-0 .367 1. Augie Garrido, Texas 1,718 Athletics Director ...... Billy Tubbs A&M-Corpus Christi 19-31-1 .382 9-20-1 .317 2. Gene Stephenson, Wichita State 1,683 Central Arkansas 18-33-1 .356 9-20-1 .317 3. Mike Martin, Florida State 1,583 HISTORY Sam Houston State 17-35-0 .327 9-21-0 .300 4. Mark Marquess, Stanford 1,356 First Year of Baseball ...... 1952 5. Jim Morris, Miami (Fla.) 1,237 Overall all-time record ...... 1,367-985-10 (46) 6. Jim Gilligan, Lamar 1,172 Thursday’s Games 7. Jack Leggett, Clemson 1,101 No. yrs in NCAA Regional/last ...... 12/2004 Stephen F. Austin at Lamar, 6:30 p.m. 8. Pete Dunn, Stetson 1,097 Last post-season opponent ...... Rice, L 6-3 Sam Houston State at A&M-Corpus Christi, 2 p.m. 9. Mike Fox, North Carolina 1,006 Nicholls at McNeese State, 6:30 p.m. 10. Steve Kittrell, South Alabama 1,000 COACHING STAFF UTSA at Central Arkansas, 6:30 p.m. Head Coach ...... Jim Gilligan (Lamar, 1971) Northwestern State at SE Louisiana, 6:30 p.m. * entering the 2010 season for all coaches ex - Record at School ...... 1,162-729 (32-plus years) UT Arlington at Texas State, 6:30 p.m. cept Gilligan. Career Record ...... 1,172-739 (33-plus years) Baseball office ...... (409) 880-8135 Friday’s Games Cardinal Pitchers Shining Asst Coaches ..Jim Ricklefsen (McN. St., 1985) Stephen F. Austin at Lamar, 6:30 p.m. Through 13 weeks of play this season, Lamar pitchers have landed three Southland Con - ...... Scott Hatten (New York Tech, 1995) Sam Houston State at A&M-Corpus Christi, 2 p.m. ference Pitcher of the Week Awards. Jonathan Nicholls at McNeese State, 6:30 p.m. Vol. Asst...... Matt Gore (Lamar, 2009) Dziedzic, who struck out a career-high 13 batters Student Coach...... Tyler Link (Lamar, 2009) UTSA at Central Arkansas, 6:30 p.m. in eight innings in a 9-2 victory over Texas A&M- Northwestern State at SE Louisiana, 6:30 p.m. Corpus Christi on April 11, is the most recent LU TEAM INFORMATION UT Arlington at Texas State, 6:30 p.m. hurler to win the award. Saturday’s Games Spencer Cuniff, who held the University of 2009 Overall Record ...... 38-22 Stephen F. Austin at Lamar, 1 p.m. Maine scoreless over the final eight innings of 2009 SLC record/finish ...... 20-13/4th Sam Houston State at A&M-Corpus Christi, 1 p.m. Lamar’s 5-4, 17-inning win on Feb. 20, earned the Letterwinners returning/lost ...... 15/15 Nicholls at McNeese State, 1 p.m. SLC’s first Pitcher of The Week honor for the sea - Position starters returning/lost ...... 2/7 UTSA at Central Arkansas, 1 p.m. son. Matison Smith, who hurled his first collegiate Pitchers returning/lost ...... 8/8 shutout in a 4-0 win over Penn State on March 6, Northwestern State at SE Louisiana, 1 p.m. Newcomers ...... 17 was the top vote-getter for Week 3. UT Arlington at Texas State, 1 p.m.

MULTIPLE HIT GAMES 2345+ Tot Cardinal Starts By Position Quentin Luquette 14 51- 20 Aaron Buchanan 12 71- 20 Moore - 33 Andy Mena 10 61- 17 Farhat - 17 K. Roebuck - 10 Luquette - 48 Pablo Salinas 10 6-- 16 Zentek - 29 Farhat - 3 Farhat - 4 Wade Mathis 951- 15 K. Roebuck - 4 Zentek - 6 Ryan Meade 921- 12 Michael Padgett - 2 Anthony Moore 91- - 10 Ted Zentek 72- - 9 Joey Latulippe 4-1- 5 Bunner - 7 Buchanan - 19 Kevin Roebuck 5--- 5 Cameron Campbell 5--- 5 Theriot - 11 Mena - 30 Clayton Farhat 22- - 4 Buchanan - 32 Salinas - 2 V.J. Bunner 2--- 2 Mena - 2 Bunner - 1 Michael De La Rosa -1-- 1 Tyler Theriot 1--- 1 Salinas - 46 Meade - 31 TEAM 99 37 60 142 De La Rosa - 4 Mathis - 21 MULTIPLE RBI GAMES 2345+ Tot Bunner - 1 Wade Mathis 10 3-- 13 Theriot - 1 Harrington - 12 Quentin Luquette 62-2 10 Smith - 13 Andy Mena 332- 8 Dziedzic - 12 Anthony Moore 34- - 7 Joey Latulippe 24- - 6 Ford - 9 DH: Ryan Meade 3111 6 Steward - 1 Pablo Salinas 31-1 5 Mathis - 16 Henderson - 3 Campbell - 21 Aaron Buchanan 311- 5 T. Roebuck - 1 Clayton Farhat 3-1- 4 Johnson - 4 Holley - 1 Ted Zenteck 111- 3 De La Rosa - 2 Cameron Campbell 21- - 3 K. Roebuck - 1 Kevin Roebuck 1-1- 2 Latulippe - 43 Meade - 7 Tyler Theriot 2--- 2 Farhat - 1 Campbell - 7 Michael De La Rosa 1--- 1 Johnson - 2 V.J. Bunner 1--- 1 TEAM 44 21 74 76 Harrington, Mathis Honored Taking a Look at The Weekend’s on Preseason All-SLC Team Eric Harrington and Wade Mathis were Lamar's only representatives Probable Lamar Starters on the 2010 Preseason All- Team. Harrington, a soph - omore right-hander, earned a first-team berth, while Mathis, a junior first #40 - Matison Smith RHP B-T: R-R 6-1, 200 baseman/designated hitter, was voted to the second team as a DH. Senior-3L Nederland, Texas Nederland HS 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 2010: Has compiled 9-2 record and 3.73 earned run average in 14 SLC-best 3.01 earned run average and was voted the league’s Freshman of appearances, including 13 starts. ... Has team-best four complete the Year in addition to making two Freshman All-America teams. Through 12 games with the last being an 11-hit, 22-5 win over UT Arlington. ... starts and two relief appearances this season, he has a 6-3 record with a Other wins have come in decisions of 6-1 over Maine, 12-5 over North 5.04 ERA, and he has struck out 44 batters and walked 21 in 80.1 innings. Dakota State, 4-0 over Penn State, 7-4 over Southeastern Louisiana, Mathis, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound, two-year letterman from Wharton, bat - 16-3 over A&M-Corpus Christi, 4-2 over UTSA, 7-3 over Northwest - ted .229 last season and had four doubles, three home runs and 16 runs ern State and 5-2 over Sam Houston State. ... Tossed his first colle - batted in. In 47 games this season, he has 50 hits in 150 at-bats for a .333 giate shutout in the win over Penn State, limiting the Nittany Lions to average with 25 runs scored, 16 doubles, four home runs and 38 RBIs. four hits and striking out six. ... Second on the team in strikeouts with 58 in 94 innings. ... Season high strikeout total is seven in the win Cardinals Picked Third in SLC Preseason Polls over NDSU. ... Has 16 career victories vs. 10 losses. Lamar can no longer live up to its preseason pick to finish third in the 2009: Made 14 starts and compiled 6-6 record with a 3.52 ERA Southland Conference in voting by the league's head coaches and sports in - (fourth-best mark in the SLC). … Struck out 53 batters and walked 33 formation directors. The Cardinals received three first-place votes in the in 76.2 innings. … Strikeout high was nine in 16-4 victory over Co - coaches’ poll and two in the SIDs’ poll. Texas State, last year’s regular-sea - son champion, placed first in both polls, and Sam Houston State, the three- lumbia. … Won first four starts before suffering 4-1 setback to Texas time defending SLC Tournament champion, was second in both polls. State, which scored three unearned runs. Southeastern Louisiana, which has the league’s best overall record of 39-14, 2008: Made eight appearances with three starts. … Went 0-2 with an was picked fourth in both polls. 8.50 ERA in 18 innings. … Struck out eight and walked five. 2007: Went 1-0 with a 4.70 ERA in five appearances with one start. Coaches’ Poll Sports Information Directors’ Poll 1. Texas State (5) 1. Texas State (6) #13 - Jonathan Dziedzic LHP B-T: L-L 6-1, 175 2. Sam Houston State (4) 2. Sam Houston State (4) Freshman-HS Humble, Texas Atascosita HS 3. Lamar (3) 3. Lamar (2) 4. Southeastern Louisiana 4. Southeastern Louisiana 2010: Struck out career-high 13 batters and walked three in 9-2 win 5. UTSA 5. UTSA over A&M-Corpus Christi on April 11 to share that week’s SLC Pitcher 6. UT Arlington 6. UT Arlington of the Week Award. ... Has 4-4 record and 4.76 ERA through first 12 7. Northwestern State 7. Northwestern State collegiate starts along with three relief appearances. ... Leads team 8. Stephen F. Austin 8. Stephen F. Austin and ranks fourth in the SLC with 87 strikeouts. ... Other victories came 9. Central Arkansas 9. McNeese State in decisions of 7-3 over Dallas Baptist, 9-6 over Northwestern State 10. McNeese State 10. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and 8-1 over UT Arlington. ... Started and pitched six scoreless in - 11. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 11. Central Arkansas nings in Lamar’s 5-4, 17-inning win to clinch a three-game sweep of 12. Nicholls 12. Nicholls Maine on opening weekend. ... Fresh from pitching seven scoreless innings on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk in last week’s 8- Lamar Signs Four Players in November 1 win over UT Arlington. Lamar signed four players to national letters of Intent during the fall High School: Played for coach Eric Matthews at Humble’s Atascocita signing period. They are outfielder Damon Loewen of Clarendon College, HS. ... Voted District 21-5A MVP as a senior and also made the first third baseman/pitcher Kane Benoit of Port Neches Groves and pitchers Trae’ team All-Greater Houston squad. … Struck out 110 batters and Hester of Vidor and Shane Hamaker of Alvin Community College. posted a 1.10 earned run average as a senior. … Threw a no-hitter Loewen stands 6-foot-2 and is a product of Abbotsford, British Colum - as a senior, and team went undefeated in district play in all three of bia. He will have three years of eligibility remaining, and he posted a sizzling his varsity seasons. ... Had 9-1 record with 69 strikeouts as a junior .404 batting average last spring at Clarendon. and had 80 K’s as a sophomore for a three-season total of 259. 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 Looking Ahead Memorial High School. The Cardinals will make their 10th-consecutive and 12th alltime ap - Benoit, a 6-0, 185-pound right-hander, posted a combined 12-3 record pearance in the Southland Conference Tournament next week at and 2.33 earned run average over the past two seasons at PN-G. He was Field in Corpus Christi. They will be looking to add to their an All-District 20-4A selection last spring, and he also earned honorable league-best victory total of 26 games in the tournament, which will send its mention on the 2009 Texas Sports Writers Association Class 4A All-State winner to the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Lamar’s alltime SLC Tournament Team. record is 26-18, and its last tournament championship was in 2004 in Ham - Hester, a 6-foot, 190-pound left-hander, was also an All-District 20-4A mond, La. The Cardinals’ first SLC Tournament championship came in 2002 pitcher for Vidor last spring. Like Benoit, he also helped his football team when they defeated Northwestern State in a 5-4 thriller in Beaumont’s Vin - make the playoffs last fall. He was coached in high school by former Lamar cent-Beck Stadium. Last year’s Cardinals were the tournament’s No. 4 seed, pitcher Kyle Green, and Benoit’s high school coach was Jay Stone, another and they defeated UT Arlington twice and lost two games to regular-season former Lamar pitcher. champion Texas State. Sam Houston State won the tournament for the third- straight season but did not qualify for this year’s eight-team field. Stephen F. Austin Skipper Johnny Cardenas In his second season at the helm of Stephen F. Austin’s baseball pro - First-Round SLC Tournament Schedule gram, Johnny Cardenas has his Lumberjacks in contention for a top finish Wednesday, May 26 in the Southland Conference. They occupy fourth place at 18-11, one game Game One: No. 6 Seed vs. No. 3 Seed, 9 a.m. behind third-place Northwestern State. The Jacks finished eighth in the SLC Game Two: No. 7 Seed vs. No. 2 Seed, Noon last year and went 0-2 in the tournament. Cardenas’ one-plus-season record Game Three: No. 8 Seed vs. No. 1 Seed, 4 p.m. is 55-49, giving him a .529 percentage. He has a 1-2 record vs. Lamar. Game Four: No. 5 Seed vs. No. 4 Seed, 7 p.m. Jim Gilligan #29 Team Comparisons Head Coach CARDINALS LUMBERJACKS 33rd Year At Lamar, 34th Overall 30-22 Records 32-17 Lamar, 1971 .295 Batting Average .328 7.0 Runs Per Game 7.6 Rapidly approaching the 1,200 plateau in ca - 5.6 Runs Allowed 6.3 reer victories, Lamar University’s Jim Gilligan 10.1 Hits Per Game 11.7 trails only five, active NCAA Division I coaches in 10.4 Hits Allowed 9.7 that category. That’s keeping pretty elite com - 35 Home Runs 49 pany. All but 10 of Gilligan’s 1,172 career wins in his 335 Runs Batted In 344 33-plus seasons in the profession have come in two stints of wearing a .436 Slugging Percentage .497 Cardinal uniform. He has guided the Cardinals to a record 10 Southland 66-87 Stolen Bases-Attempts 75-108 Conference regular-season championships, one 4.95 Earned Run Average 5.30 championship, four conference tournament championshps and 11 NCAA 6.9 Strikeouts Per 9 Innings 6.4 Regional appearances. His 1981 Cardinals won a school-record 54 3.3 Walks Allowed Per 9 Innings 4.4 games, and his teams have reached the 35-victory level on 20 other oc - .969 Fielding Percentage .954 casions. 51 Double Plays Turned 37 Adding further proof of his impact on the game of baseball, Gilligan was selected for enshrinement into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame as Individual Statistical Leaders part of the 2004 induction class that included greats Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, and Kenny Rogers of the . CARDINALS LUMBERJACKS Over the past eight years, Gilligan has guided Lamar to the best Andy Mena, .377 Batting Average Riley Huble, .422 overall record of any team in the Southland Conference at 297-174 (.631) Aaron Buchanan, 57 Runs Scored Garrett Smith, 44 and the best SLC record at 149-80 (.651). The Cardinals have won two Aaron Buchanan, 67 Hits Garrett Smith, 70 SLC regular season titles, two SLC Tournament titles, two SLC East Di - Quentin Luquette, 16 Doubles Bobby Loveless, 17 vision titles and appeared in three NCAA Regional Tournaments during Pablo Salinas, 16 Bo Coffman, 17 this span. Wade Mathis, 16 Gilligan’s overall record entering this weekend is 1,172-739-7 (.613), Anthony Moore, 3 Triples Michael Haynes, 3 ranking him as the 24th all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I his - Aaron Buchanan, 3 Tanner Hines, 3 tory in wins. He has a 1,162-729-7 (.614) record at Lamar. He reached Ryan Meade, 5 Home Runs Bobby Loveless, 8 another coaching milestone in 2008, becoming the 31st coach in NCAA Quentin Luquette, 5 Ryan Priest, 8 history to record 1,100 career wins in Lamar’s dramatic 11-10 come-from- Darren Crabtree, 8 behind victory over McNeese State during the final weekend of the regu - Quentin Luquette, 47 Runs Batted In Bobby Loveless, 48 lar-season Gilligan led the Cardinals to their 10th SLC regular season title in Quentin Luquette, 93 Total Bases Bobby Loveless, 106 2004. Lamar also made its third straight NCAA Regional appearance as Wade Mathis, .520 Slugging Percentage Riley Huble, .633 the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Regional in Houston, hosted by Rice Uni - Aaron Buchanan, 39 Bases on Balls Darren Crabtree, 28 versity. Lamar lost to second-seeded Texas A&M and was eliminated by Aaron Buchanan, .470 On Base Pct. Riley Huble, .469 host and top-seeded Rice. Quentin Luquette, 14 Stolen Bases Tanner Hines, 18 In 2003, Gilligan guided Lamar to its ninth SLC regular season title Matison Smith, 3.73 Earned Run Average Tyler Herriage, 2.42 and a spot in the NCAA Regional in Austin. The Cardinals came within Matison Smith, 9 Victories Tyler Herriage, 7 one win of advancing to an NCAA Super Regional after pushing the host Cory Holley, 4 Saves Jason West, 9 Longhorns to a championship game by beating them 6-2 in a semifinal. Matison Smith, 94.0 Innings Pitched Tyler Herriage, 81.2 Texas then pulled out a 6-3 win over the Cardinals and went on to partic - Jonathan Dziedzic, 87 Strikeouts Tyler Herriage, 65 ipate in the College World Series. Gilligan has coached 77 first team all-conference players and sent Who’s Hot? over 145 players into professional baseball. His tenure at Lamar is split Second baseman Andy Mena is wielding the hottest Cardinal bat as he into two different periods. In his first stint, he coached the Cardinals for 14 enters the Stephen F. Austin series with a seven-game hitting streak. Over seasons (1973-1986) and guided LU to seven SLC championships, six that span, the junior from Huffman Hargrave has collected 14 hits in 34 at- NCAA Regional appearances, and two zone titles. His teams twice played bats to raise his batting average from .365 to a team-high .377. Five of his in NCAA regional semifinals, one step away from a shot at the College hits during the streak have been doubles, and he had a career-high four hits World Series. He garnered his 500th victory in 1986, becoming the in Saturday’s 8-1 victory over UT Arlington. Shortstop Aaron Buchanan and youngest college head coach to do so at the time. senior center fielder Anthony Moore were the other Cardinals to hit safely in Following his foray into professional baseball, Gilligan returned to all three games against UTA, and junior designated hitter Ryan Meade en - Lamar for the 1992 season. He wasted little time in rebuilding the pro - joyed the Cardinals’ biggest run-producing game of the season by driving in gram as the Cardinals won the 1993 Sun Belt championship and ad - eight in the 22-5 win to open series. vanced to the NCAA Central I Regional. Buchanan, a junior from Houston Klein Forest, built the Cardinals’ Since Gilligan’s return, Lamar has won four conference champi - longest hitting streak of the year, a 15-gamer that started early in the season onships and four conference tournament championships and appeared in four NCAA Regionals. and ended on April 11. Mathis has the team’s second-longest hittting streak Gilligan's trademark is getting the most out of his players, especially -- a nine-gamer -- while catcher Joey Latulippe and third baseman Pablo the pitching staff, having been a pitcher himself. He took an overachiev - Salinas have each had an eight-game streak. ing club in 1995 which placed fourth in the Sun Belt's regular season race From a pitching standpoint, senior right-hander Matison Smith of Ned - to Jacksonville, Fla., for the conference tournament. Four days later, the erland is the hottest Cardinal, having won nine of his 13 starts to improve his Cardinals came back to Beaumont (after beating the host Dolphins in four-season record to 16-10. He has four complete games, and he has back-to-back games) to celebrate their SBC Tournament championship thrown one shutout. and prepare for a berth in the NCAA Regional. Lamar played in the Midwest I Regional in Wichita, Kan., where they Tournament Tickets Now On Sale beat host Wichita State twice and lost to eventual College World Series Tickets for the 2010 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament are participant Stanford twice. Gilligan’s wife LaVerne has been instrumental now on sale. The tournament, featuring the top eight finishers in the regular- in the success of the annual Lamar Baseball Reunion Banquet and also season standings, will be played May 26-29 at Whataburger Field in Cor - assists in securing outfield billboard sponsors. pus Christi. Fans may call (361) 561-4665 to order tickets, or they can go online to www.cchooks.com.