MidAmerica Nazarene (1-1, 0-0 HAAC)  Lubbock Christian (2-0, 0-0 Heartland)
Saturday, February 7 at 12 p.m.
Lubbock, Texas (PlainsCapital Park)
 
Western New Mexico (0-2, 0-0 RMAC) at Lubbock Christian (2-0, 0-0 Heartland)
Saturday, February 7 at 2 p.m.
Lubbock, Texas (PlainsCapital Park)
 
Lady Chaps open 2015 with pair of wins
LUBBOCK, Texas (February 6, 2015) – Pitchers Courtney McGee and Kelsey Hoppel made their respective returns to the circle in Lubbock Christian's opening day, with McGee directing a 10-1 beating of Western New Mexico and Hoppel preserving a 6-4 win over MidAmerica Nazarene Friday afternoon at PlainsCapital Park.
McGee, coming off of a medical redshirt in 2014, gave up four hits in four innings in the shortened five-frame game against the Mustangs. Hoppel, a redshirt senior on the Lady Chap basketball team, made her collegiate softball debut, allowing a single hit in the come-from-behind win versus the Pioneers. Dating to last season, LCU (2-0, 0-0 Heartland) has now won 12 straight contests.
Leading WNMU (0-2, 0-0 RMAC) 3-1 in the bottom of the third, LCU's offensive came alive, scoring seven runs. Sammie Murrietta singled up the middle, McGee was hit by a pitch, and Faith Koria reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases for Ashton Bell, who earned a walk to bring Murrietta home. Katera Eltsosie then sailed a shot over the center field fence for a grand slam and an 8-1 Lady Chap lead. Jessica Loiacano singled through the left side and was brought around by a Molly Davison home run to increase LCU's advantage to 10-1. The Mustangs failed to score in the next frame, allowing the game to finish in the fifth inning.
In the win, Loiacano collected three hits and an RBI while Davison had two hits and a trio of RBI.
For the Mustangs, Alicia Enriquez registered a pair of hits and Mikayla Austin (0-1) took the loss in her first appearance on the season.
In game two, the Lady Chaps started off well against MNU (1-1, 0-0 HAAC), going up 2-0 following a double to right center by Bell. However, two defensive lapses in the top of the fourth allowed the Pioneers to break into the scoring column. Back-to-back throwing errors eluded to four runs being scored by the visitors to pull ahead 4-2 before the inning concluded.
Consecutive singles by Pam Pence, Koria and Sydney Beuthien kicked off the bottom of the fifth for the Lady Chaps, setting up a triple by Bell to score Beuthien and Koria to knot the game at 4-4 before a sacrifice fly by Loiacano brought Bell in for a 5-4 LCU advantage.
Liz Torres made the most of her first pitch in the bottom of the sixth, homering down the left field line to up the Lady Chap lead to 6-4, which would be maintained as the Pioneers were unable to score the rest of the way.
Bell produced three hits and four RBI in the win while Koria recorded a pair of hits and runs.
For MNU, Megan Schwindler (1-1) suffered her first defeat in 2015.
 
Lady Chap softball expected to win the Heartland
WACO, Texas (January 12, 2015) – Lubbock Christian softball has been picked to win the 2015 Heartland Conference softball championship, announced by the league office Monday.
The Lady Chaps received 12 of the 18 first place votes as chosen by the conference's coaches and sports information directors. Although this will be the first year LCU is eligible to win a Heartland Conference title, the Lady Chaps concluded the 2014 season with a league-best record of 19-4, finishing ahead of St. Mary's (18-5), the winner of the last five conference championships.
St. Mary's earned four first place votes while Oklahoma Christian and St. Edward's each totaled one.
LCU returns four Heartland Conference First Team picks as well as an NFCA All-American. Last season, Lubbock Christian led the Heartland with a .397 batting average, including five Lady Chaps ranking in the top 10, and the team was also second in fielding with a .963 percentage.
 
Rank      Team                                     Total      1st Place Votes
1st           Lubbock Christian           155        12
2nd          St. Mary's                          142         4
3rd           Oklahoma Christian       125         1
4th           St. Edward's                      113         1
5th           Texas A&M Int'l              87
6th           Rogers State                     63
7th           Texas-Permian Basin    53
8th           Newman                            52
9th           Oklahoma Panhandle   2
 
Bell selected to National Player of the Year Watchlist
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (February 2, 2015) – Ashton Bell of Lubbock Christian has been named to the Schutt Sports/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II National Player of the Year Watchlist along with 49 other student-athletes around the country.
Behind the collaboration between the NFCA and the NCAA Division II Head Coaches Committee, and the generosity of Schutt Sports, the award was created to honor the outstanding athletic achievement among softball student-athletes throughout Division II.
In addition to being the first Lady Chap every selected as an NFCA All-American, the outfielder/pitcher was also selected to last season's NFCA South Central First Team and the Heartland All-Conference First Team. Bell earned Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week three times in 2014, more than any other athlete in the league. The Lubbock native led the Heartland in batting average (.491), slugging percentage (.920), runs scored (61) and hits (86) while ranking second in RBI (56) and home runs (17). In the circle, the Frenship High School product amassed a 6-1 record and had the third best opponent batting average (.230) and was seventh in ERA (2.60) in the league.
This inaugural group consists of 29 seniors, 14 juniors and seven sophomores that represent 37 programs from 18 different conferences across the country. The Great Lakes Valley Conference paced the way with five of its schools and seven student-athletes. The Lone Star and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) each had four programs with seven and five student-athletes, respectively. The Pacific West Conference and California Collegiate Athletic Association followed with three, while the ECC, Heartland Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference garnered two apiece.
The Top 25 finalists for the 2015 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year award will be announced on April 8. While an athlete does not have to be on watch list to be considered for the Top 25, the winner will come from the 25 finalists. The Top 10 finalists will be announced on April 30 and the Top 3 on May 13 or 14 with the 2015 Division II National Player of the Year revealed on May 26.
 
Softball lands seven on all-conference team
LUBBOCK, Texas (April 30, 2014) – Lubbock Christian placed seven student athletes on the All-Heartland Conference Softball Team with five Lady Chaps making the First Team and a pair on the Second Team.
First baseman Morgan Colburn, second baseman Diana De La Paz, third baseman Jessica Loiacano, outfielder Ashton Bell and utility player Katera Eltsosie earned spots on the First Team, while shortstop Megan Sullivan and outfielder Mallory Koschany rounded out the Second Team. Lubbock Christian led the Heartland with its seven honorees, while St. Mary's and St. Edward's each placed five players for the second-highest team total.
The Lady Chaps were not eligible for individual awards due to LCU's provisional status within the NCAA. Kendall Lucas of St. Edward's was named Player of the Year and teammate Sarah Debrow was Pitcher of the Year. Freshman of the Year went to Brenda Parnin of Texas A&M International, Texas Permian-Basin's Jennifer Quam was Newcomer of the Year and Donna Fields of St. Mary's was Coach of the Year.
Sophomore Bell and junior Loiacano led the conference in batting average at .491 and .452, respectively, followed by junior Colburn (.430), senior De La Paz (.407) and senior Sullivan (.396).
In slugging percentage, Bell (.920) again led the pack with Colburn (.874) and Loiacano (.851) following in the second and third position, and Sullivan (.692) in fifth. LCU held down the top five spots in runs scored with Bell (61) leading the way, followed by senior Koschany (57), Sullivan and Colburn (53) and Loiacano (48).
Bell was also first in hits with 86, Loiacano sat in second with 76, Koschany and Colburn each recorded 65, Sullivan tallied 63 and sophomore Eltsosie racked up 61. Loiacano ended in first with 64 RBI, Bell in second with 56, Colburn in fourth with 52, Sullivan had 46 for the fifth spot and Eltsosie's 45 landed her in sixth.
Loiacano and Colburn led the conference with 19 homeruns each, Bell second with 17, Sullivan in fourth with 10 and Eltsosie in sixth with nine. Koschany's 26 stolen bases tied for first in the league.
Eltsosie's 24 wins was tops in the Heartland, as was her 57 batters struck out by looking. She was second in saves with five and fourth in total batters struck out with 152, opposing batting average at .233 and a 1.78 ERA.