LU athletics reaches monumental goal

For the first time in school history, Lamar University won the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Cup for the 2023-24 sports season. The Cardinals also earned the Men’s All-Sports Trophy, which is just the second time in department history and the first since 2011-12. 

The trophy, which was created for the start of the 2002-03 academic year, tracks the overall combined success of each SLC member institution within a calendar year. A school will receive 10 points for a conference regular-season title, 9 for second place, 8 for third and so on down the standings. The Commissioner’s Cup total comes from combining the scores from the Men’s All-Sport Trophy and the Women’s All-Sports Trophy. 

It marks the second-straight season that LU has made history in the chase for the Commissioner’s Cup. The 2022-23 season saw the Cardinals bring home its first women’s all-sports trophy. 

“It’s a very exciting time to be a Lamar Cardinal,” said LU Director of Athletics Jeff O’Malley. “Graduating student-athletes and celebrating their success in the competition arena is why we’re in this business. There is a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make this possible. I couldn’t be prouder of our teams, coaches and staff. This is a true reflection of the dedication of the entire university, our fans and the Beaumont community. For our institution to accomplish something that has never been done before is a rewarding way to end a very special season.” 

The Cardinals secured the cup by scoring 59.5 points on the men’s side and 65.0 on the women’s side. LU outpaced second-place McNeese by 14 points. The season was anchored by conference titles from the LU women’s cross country, soccer and basketball teams, to go along with a baseball title. 

In addition to the conference title in baseball, the LU men saw improved finishes in football and men’s basketball, to go along with an SLC runner-up finish in golf. 

The Cardinals officially secured the Commissioner’s Cup before the baseball season wrapped up due to outdoor track and field’s finish at the conference championships. After securing 16.0 combined points during the indoor championships, the LU men’s and women’s team scored 14.0 combined at the SLC Outdoor Championships. 

Even with the overall Cup secured, Lamar still had work to do to claim the Men’s All-Sports trophy. Lamar went into the final weekend of the baseball season trailing UIW by 4.5 points, but Lamar winning the outright regular-season baseball title on the final day of the regular season was enough to overcome the deficit defeating the league’s other Cardinals by 1.5 points. 

“I think for us it’s an affirmation that we’re on the right track,” said O’Malley. “This certainly isn’t the end goal. We want to we want more championships. We want to get more teams to the NCAA tournament. We need to get the football team on a national level and competing for national championship and we want men’s and women’s basketball to get their ticket to the tournament. We haven’t done that in a while but to do something you know like this that’s never been done here before is certainly monumental for us. 

“It starts with our student athletes, coaches and their staff as well as university president Dr. Jaime Taylor and his executive team. If we are not all on the same page, then this doesn’t happen. It takes a lot of pieces of the puzzle to fit together.” 

The LU baseball program (41-13) is currently participating in the SLC Tournament as the No. 1 seed in Hammond, Louisiana. Earlier this week, senior Brooks Caple was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and head coach Will Davis the SLC Coach of the Year. 

Caple becomes the 11th Cardinal to be named pitcher of the year and the first since Tim Erickson in 2008. 

Caple led a Cardinal pitching staff that finished first nationally in ERA and WHIP and ranked among the nation’s elite in hits per nine innings, walks per nine innings and shutouts. Caple posted a 7-3 overall record in 14 appearances with a 2.29 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP while holding opponents to a .186 batting average. He also struck out 96 batters in 90.1 innings of work. Caple led the Southland in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts looking and tied for the league lead in wins and was second in strikeouts and opponents’ batting average. 

Davis’ coach of the year honor marks the first of his career and the sixth time a Lamar coach has received the award. Davis guided the Cardinals to their first SLC regular-season title since 2004 – the program’s 11thoverall. The 41 wins marks the 10th time in program history that the team reached 40 or more wins. In addition to those accolades, the Cardinals won 10-of-12 series, including a three-game sweep at No. 25 Oklahoma, rattled off a 13-game win streak (which was the nation’s longest at the time) and landed in the College Baseball Nation, Baseball America and Perfect Game Top 25 polls. 

Joining Caple (first team) on the allconference squad are second team selections are junior Zak Skinner (catcher), junior Brayden Evans (first base), senior River Orsak (designated hitter), senior Jacob Ellis (pitcher), junior Hunter Hesseltine (pitcher) while senior Kanin Dodge earned a spot on the SLC All-Defensive Team at shortstop.