BEAUMONT, TEXAS – The University of Incarnate Word softball team will travel to Lamar University for their third Southland Conference series of the season. The three game series will begin with a doubleheader on Friday starting at 3:00 p.m. followed by a single game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at the LU Softball Complex.
         
The Cardinals (11-17, 2-4) enter the weekend series on a positive note after defeating Texas State, 9-4 in extra innings on Wednesday evening.  Alex Alonzo (San Antonio/Smithson Valley HS) is coming off a great performance against the Bobcats with two more home runs and a career high six RBI's.
         
Danielle Ramirez (San Antonio/Marshall HS) leads the Cardinals with a .394 batting average and 26 hits.  Alonzo leads the team with six long balls and 24 RBI. Natali Duron (Pasadena/Memorial HS) is also having a solid year at the plate for UIW as she is batting .329 with 10 runs batted in.  As a team, UIW is hitting .277 and they are averaging 3.8 runs per game.
         
Both Bridget Stein (Brenham/Brenham HS) and Sarah Leal (Kyle/Hays HS) will likely handle the bulk of the pitching duties for UIW as the duo has combined for 14 starts and 104.2 innings of work.  Stein has a record of 5-4 on the season with a 4.01 ERA while Leal is 3-5 and she also has an ERA of 4.01.

Lamar enters this weekend's series with a 15-11 record and they are 3-3 in conference play.  UIW and Lamar played earlier in the season at the Lamar Classic where Lamar defeated UIW, 8-3.  This series will be the first home game for Lamar since February 21.

At the plate, Lamar is batting a conference high .324 as a team and they are averaging 6.3 runs per game.  Lamar has seven starters who are hitting at least .300 at the plate and they are led by Brittany Rodriguez who is currently batting .407.  Sable Hankins leads the team with four home runs and she is tied for the team lead with 24 RBI's.  Lamar has two main starting pitchers led by Ciara Kuna who is 7-2 with a 2.60 ERA in 64.2 innings.  Laura Napoli is the team's other starting pitcher and she is 4-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 63.2 innings.
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