BEAUMONT, TEXAS – The University of Incarnate Word softball team travels to Beaumont on Friday to participate in the Lamar Classic. The Cardinals open the tournament on Friday with a game against Lamar starting at 12:15 p.m. followed by another game against Texas Southern at 7 p.m.  On Saturday, UIW plays two more games starting at 2:30 p.m. against Northern Colorado followed by a matchup against Alcorn State with a 7 p.m. start time. The final game of the tournament will take place on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. against Alcorn State.  
         
The Cardinals enter the Lamar Classic looking to break a five game losing streak. Offensively, the team is hitting .285 with 37 hits and 11 RBI. Danielle Ramirez (San Antonio/Marshall HS) currently leads the team with eight hits and a .571 batting average while freshman Darianne Hale (Mesquite/Bishop Lynch) has supplied the power with two home runs in just six at bats.
         
Bridget Stein (Brenham/Brenham HS) picked up the lone win for UIW on the mound and she has a 1-1 record with a 7.45 ERA in 10.1 innings. Hale leads the team in ERA at 3.00 and she has allowed nine hits in seven innings of work. As a staff, the Cardinals have an earned run average of 10.03 and opponents are hitting .447 off of Cardinal pitchers.
         
Lamar (3-2) started the season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Syracuse University and they also have wins against Utah Valley and University of South Dakota. Lamar has a team batting average of .327 and they have 32 hits on the season to go along with 26 RBI. The Cardinals currently have five players who are hitting over .300 led by Brynn Baca who is hitting .444. Sable Hankins leads the team with five RBI and has a homerun. Ciara Luna leads the pitching staff with a 2-0 record and a 1.79 ERA in 15.2 innings.
         
Northern Colorado (2-3) has started the 2016 season with victories against Texas Southern and Detroit.  Madi Schmidt and Ari Samaniego lead the team in batting average at .400 with two hits apiece. On the mound, Jayme Reddacliff leads the team with one win while not allowing a run so far on the season and striking out 12 batters in seven innings. 

Alcorn State (2-2) swept Kentucky State to start the season and was swept by Northwestern State. Sametria Collins leads the team with a .417 batting average and has scored four runs.  Ashley Breal has been the team's top pitcher with a 1-1 record and a 4.94 ERA in 11.1 innings of work.
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