Midwestern State (12-4) at Lubbock Christian (9-4)
Saturday, February 20 at 10 a.m.
Mansfield, Texas (James McKnight Park East)
 
Bethany College (4-2) at Lubbock Christian (9-4)
Saturday, February 20 at 12 p.m.
Mansfield, Texas (James McKnight Park East)
 
Lady Chap losing skid extended to three before win over TWU
MANSFIELD, Texas (February 20, 2015) – Lubbock Christian ended their longest losing streak in over a year with a 12-8 win over Texas Wesleyan after dropping a 5-4 decision to Oklahoma City Friday afternoon in the Mansfield North Texas Softball Bash at James McKnight Park East.
 
The Lady Chaps (9-4) had not lost three contests in a row since being swept by fellow Heartland Conference member St. Mary's last season. Before defeating the Rams, LCU had lost consecutive contests to Midwestern State, Cameron and OCU.
 
The Stars (6-0) jumped on the board early with Kyndra Holasek recording a double to right center and was brought home by a sacrifice bunt by Jocelin Diaz for a 1-0 OCU lead. Faith Koria notched her first triple of the season as the Lady Chap leadoff batter but was stranded following three successive LCU outs.
 
OCU added to their total in the top of the fourth, helped out by back-to-back Lady Chap errors, while a passed ball allowed Laci Joyner to scamper in for a 2-0 Star advantage. A pair of RBI singles added two more to the scoring column before the LCU defense was able to wrap up the inning.
 
Jessica Loiacano singled to right center in the bottom of the frame before Molly Davison did the same while pinch runner Abi Poe made her way home by way of an OCU throwing error to pull the Lady Chaps to within 4-1.
 
The Stars added another run in the fifth before Sydney Beuthien registered her sixth home run of the year on a shot over centerfield to make the score 5-2. LCU held the Stars at bay in the seventh, needing at least three runs in the bottom of the inning.
 
Addison Ard made her way to first by being hit by a pitch, and Pam Pence singled up the middle to put the Lady Chaps in scoring position. The runners stayed put through two putouts by OCU before Ashton Bell came through with a single down the right field line that scored Katlin Reed. Loiacano then doubled to right field to bring Pence around to cut the lead to 5-4. The Stars then sent in Abby Meador to pitch with two outs on the board and Lady Chap runners on second and third. Sammie Murrietta walked, loading the bases for Davison, who end up swinging on a 2-2 count to conclude the game.
 
Courtney McGee (4-2) took a successive loss of the season with seven hits, three strikeouts and four walks.
 
The Lady Chaps pieced together some offensive firepower in inning number one against Texas Wesleyan (3-4), loading the bases early with a trio of walks and scoring on the second of two wild pitches. Three more walks gave LCU another pair of runs before a Taylan Halsell single up the middle gave the Lady Chaps a 5-0 advantage.
 
The Rams answered back, scoring their first run on a sacrifice fly by Lauren Gunter and putting up three more on an Amber Marlett home run to right center field to slice the deficit to 5-4. In the fourth, the Lady Chap offense again came alive, started off by a Koria walk and singles by Beuthien and Bell to load the bases again for Davison. This time, she came through with a grand slam to left field and a 9-4 LCU lead.
 
Each team added another score, and TWU responded in the bottom of the fifth on a Aizia Azarcon single to right center that scored a pair of Rams to slice the Lady Chap lead to 10-7, and TWU added another run on an LCU fielding error for a two-run LCU edge.
 
A single down the right field line by Loiacano in the top of the seventh scored Koria, and a Davison double to left field brought Poe around to extend the Lady Chap lead to 12-8, as the Rams were unable to add any further scoring, ending LCU's losing streak.
 
Abbi White (2-0) tallied the win for the Lady Chaps with five hits, a strikeout and four walks, while McGee earned the save.
 
Koria and McGee earn All-Tournament honors
Senior outfielder Faith Koria and redshirt senior pitcher Courtney McGee were each named to the 2015 Desert Stinger Classic All-Tournament Team, as announced Monday. Koria batted .667 during the five-game stretch, producing eight hits, a pair of doubles and four RBI. The Howard JC product was also successful stealing five bases in as many attempts. McGee improved her record to 4-0 on the season and produced the first LCU shutout of 2015 in the 9-0 win over UC-Colorado Springs. The Yorba Linda, Calif., native also contributed a dozen putouts while manning first base versus the University of Mary.