LUBBOCK, Texas (February 25, 2015) – Lubbock Christian opened up Heartland Conference play in a big way on Wednesday afternoon at PlainsCapital Park, defeating Texas-Permian Basin by scores of 11-3 and 16-2, with both games being played in a shortened five innings and still racking up 31 hits, eight doubles, a triple and a pair of home runs in the two victories.
LCU (12-5, 2-0 Heartland) was helped out early by three Falcon errors in the bottom of the first inning of game one, scoring one a UTPB throwing miscue that led to an RBI double by
Ashton Bell to jump ahead 3-0. The Lady Chaps added another pair of runs in the second to go up 5-0 before UTPB's JJ Von OesEn hit one over to give the Falcons (4-13, 0-2 Heartland) their first run of the day.
Liz Torres answered in the next frame with her fifth homer of the year to bring in
Molly Davison, and a
Pam Pence RBI double brought
Katlin Reed around to increase the Lady Chap lead to 8-1. UTPB's Adrianna Berzoza homered to left center for two Falcon runs to cut the lead to 7-3 in the top of the fifth.
The Lady Chaps needed four runs to conclude the game early, and did just that, beginning with another double by Bell that was followed by a Torres single to right center to score Bell. Pinch runner
Abi Poe stepped in for Torres, stole second and made her way to third on a wild pitch. Reed doubled to the pitcher, as
Addison Ard made her appearance at the plate, reaching on a fielder's choice that put Reed on third, but Poe was thrown out.
Faith Koria then made it to first as Reed was thrown out at home before
Sydney Beuthien hit an RBI single through the right side for a 10-3 LCU advantage. A
Sammie Murrietta single up the middle allowed Koria to hurry in for the final run of the game.
Courtney McGee (5-2) took the win on six hits, three walks and a trio of strikeouts.
The Falcons made the first strike in game two, scoring on a Van Oesen single to right center, but the Lady Chaps quickly retaliated in the bottom of the first on a Beuthien double to score Koria and tie the game at 1-1. Murrietta and Torres each added an RBI before the end of the inning for a 3-1 LCU edge.
The Lady Chaps went on a scoring surge during the second and third inning, putting together six runs in each, highlighted by a two-run homer down the left field line by Beuthien, her eighth on the year, and a Bell triple to right center in the second to extend the lead to 15-1.
Each team put another run on the board, but the Falcons were unable to close the gap to less than eight runs, finishing the game in the fifth inning.
Bell (2-3) recorded the win for the Lady Chaps with three hits, two walks and a pair of strikeouts.
The two squads face off again on Sunday, this time in Odessa, with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
