St. Edward's (17-11, 5-3 Heartland) at Lubbock Christian (19-6, 9-1 Heartland)
Saturday, March 21st at 11 a.m.
Lubbock, Texas (PlainsCapital Park)
About the Hilltoppers
St. Edward's (5-3) is currently in second place within the Heartland Conference standings following yesterday's pair of losses to the Lady Chaps. Topper pitcher Katelyn Klug is the reigning Heartland Conference pitcher of the week, an award also won by teammate Sara Debrow the week prior.
History between LCU and SEU
After Friday's pair of Lubbock Christian victories, LCU now leads the series 3-1. The teams first met last season with the Hilltoppers taking a 3-2 victory on March 28, but the Lady Chaps won the series the following day with a pair of wins, 5-1 and 8-3.
Lady Chaps topple SEU out of tie for first place
LUBBOCK, Texas (March 20, 2015) – Kelsey Hoppel recorded a save and a win in a pair of 8-6 and 8-4 victories over St. Edward's to keep Lubbock Christian atop the Heartland Conference standings and gave the Hilltoppers their second and third loss in league play Friday afternoon at PlainsCapital Park.
Coming into the matchup, LCU (19-6, 9-1 Heartland) and SEU (17-11, 5-3), along with Texas A&M International (15-14, 8-1) were the only remaining teams with only one blemish on the season. TAMIU is facing Rogers State tonight to determine if the Lady Chaps will be able to take over sole possession of first place.
LCU's defense got off to a good start by recording a pair of groundout against the first two St. Edward's batters, but Topper Caitie Carney throttled a blast over the scoreboard for the initial run of the game. Faith Roberts singled up the middle before Morgan Dufour recorded another SEU homer to left center for a 3-0 edge.
Ashton Bell got things going for the Lady Chaps in the following inning with a single through the right side, and Liz Torres pushed her into scoring position with a single to center field before both runners moved up another base on the throw. Katlin Reed was up next, but Topper pitcher Sarah Debrow recorded a pair of strikes. Reed then came through with a double to left field, scoring her teammates and cutting the lead to 3-2. Sydney Beuthien singled by tipping the ball of off the shortstop's glove and advanced to second to score Reed and knot the game at 3-all. A single to left field by Sammie Murrietta that also bounced off of the top of the shortstop's glove brought Beuthien home for the first Lady Chap lead of the day at 4-3.
The Toppers took to second and third base in the top of the third by way of a pair of singles and a wild pitch. Roberts put out a bunt, but it was mishandled by LCU and ended up being thrown to the fence, scoring Emily Mayfield and Roberts for a 5-4 SEU edge. The Toppers added another run off of an RBI by Kaci Olson in the top of the fourth to increase the lead to 6-4.
In the bottom of the fifth, a Murrietta walk was followed by a Loiacano double to left center to put both runners in scoring position. Molly Davison stepped up and notched her fourth home run of the season to push the Lady Chaps ahead, 7-6. Another double by Reed brought around Torres and pinch runner Abi Poe to put the Lady Chaps up 8-6 to end the inning.
The Toppers came close to scoring in the sixth by loading the bases with no outs, but the Lady Chaps pieced together a crucial double play and grabbed the third on a line out to finish the inning. Neither team added to their total, finishing the game with a score of 8-6.
Courtney McGee (9-3) picked up win, and Kelsey Hoppel tallied the first save of her career.
The Lady Chaps compiled a fury of runs in the bottom of the second during game two, beginning with singles by Loiacano, Davison and Bell to load the bases. Torres earned a walk to score an LCU run, and Reed singled down the left field line to bring Davison home for the first pair of runs of the game. Faith Koria reached on a fielder's choice to score Bell, followed by a sacrifice fly by Beuthien to double the Lady Chap advantage to 4-0. A Murrietta single to center field added another pair to put LCU up 6-0 before the conclusion of the inning.
Loiacano opened the bottom of the third with a deep shot over center field to place the Toppers in a seven-run hole before SEU was able to find some offense in the top of the fourth. Two singles placed runners on base, and a sacrifice bunt from Cydney Ervin advanced both Toppers. A triple to left field by Laura Alvarado gave SEU two scores, and a Breah Whitten single to center field put another on the board to cut the Lady Chap lead to 7-3.
Beuthien doubled to right field in the bottom half of the fourth and made her way around on an SEU throwing error to up LCU's lead to 8-3 before Carney answered with a run of her own on a homer to left field in the bottom of the frame to make it an 8-4 game, which would remain the final score after two scoreless innings.
Hoppel (5-0) took the win for LCU in her second appearance on the day.
The Lady Chaps and Hilltoppers wrap up the series tomorrow for a single game at 11 a.m., originally scheduled for noon but moved up due to projected weather, at PlainsCapital Park.
