LUBBOCK, Texas (February 7, 2015) – Behind the slugging of Jessica Loiacano and Sydney Beuthien, Lubbock Christian finished opening weekend with another pair of wins over MidAmerica Nazarene and Western New Mexico, defeating the Pioneers 11-4 and beating the Mustangs 11-6, Saturday afternoon at PlainsCapital Park.

Beuthein got off to a hot start in the first inning against MNU (1-3) by sending a triple to right center that brought Faith Koria in for the first score of the day. Loiacano, the Heartland Conference home run leader in 2014, belted her first bomb of 2015 to right field that put LCU (4-0) up 4-0. A RBI single by Courtney McGee added another run for the Lady Chaps.

A RBI double by Katlin Reed in the third allowed Murrietta to scamper in, and an Addison Ard single up the middle brought in McGee for a 7-0 Lady Chap advantage. On the next at bat, Beuthien knocked one over the center field fence scoring three more runs for the LCU.
Savanna Luke made her way to the circle in place of McGee in the third frame, striking out the first two MNU batters, but a single by Ana Tavarez allowed two Pioneers across the place to cut the Lady Chap lead to 10-2.

LCU added another run on a Reed double down the left field line in the fourth, and MNU countered with two more scores off of a Hayley Gately homer in the fifth, but the contest would end with the final of 11-4.

McGee (2-0) took the win while Taylor Pearcy (0-1) finished with the loss.

Against the Mustangs (1-3), the Lady Chaps put four on the board in the second inning off of a walk to Ard, a sacrifice fly by Murietta and a double RBI from Beuthien. WNMU cut the deficit in half with two runs in the third to trail 4-2.

Loiacano blasted her second home run of the afternoon in the top of the third, and Murietta followed with an RBI double to center field for a 7-2 Lady Chap edge. Beuthien joined Loiacano by knocking another one out to bring in three more LCU runs to push the lead to 10-2.

WNMU lessened the deficit to 11-4, but was only able to add two more in their final attempt during the seventh inning to close the game.

Kelsey Hoppel (2-0) earned another win for LCU, and Mikayla Austin suffered the loss.

The Lady Chaps make the first trip of the year to the Desert Stinger Classic in Las Vegas, Nev., next week. Their first opponent of the tournament will be Regis University on Friday, February 13 at 6:30 p.m. CST.