Oklahoma Panhandle State (9-25, 1-11 Heartland) at Lubbock Christian (24-9, 13-1 Heartland)
Thursday, April 2 at 1 p.m. (DH)
Lubbock, Texas (PlainsCapital Park)
 
About Oklahoma Panhandle State
The Aggies have tallied an overall mark of 9-25 and are currently tied for last place within the Heartland Conference with a record of 1-11. Pitcher Samantha Arledge leads the league in innings pitched (116.1), strikeouts (129) and appearances (24).
 
History between LCU and OPSU
The 2014 season marked the first meeting between the Lady Chaps and the Aggies, as LCU came up with a pair of wins, 18-4 and 6-3.
 
Last meeting of the two ball clubs
GOODWELL, Okla. (April 18, 2014) – Lubbock Christian tied a season-high in runs in an 18-4 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State in game one of a doubleheader at Aggie Softball Field on Tuesday, and Katera Eltsosie started the momentum in game two with a homerun in the top of the sixth as the Lady Chaps were down 4-1 before scoring four runs in the frame to go on to win 6-3 and conclude Heartland Conference regular season play with a 19-4 record and finish in second place.
 
The Lady Chaps (43-10, 19-4 Heartland) also put up 18 runs on March 4 versus the University of Southwest, the highest total since a 19-6 victory against Texas-Permian Basin back on April 24, 2013.
 
LCU started hot, scoring four runs in the first inning of play, highlighted by a two RBI homerun by Morgan Colburn, and an RBI single by Diana De La Paz gave the Lady Chaps an 8-2 lead in inning number two.
 
Lubbock Christian pieced together 11 hits for 10 runs in the third frame, beginning with a Colburn RBI single that scored Ashton Bell. A De La Paz double to left center gave LCU another pair of runs, singles by Rebecca Billings and Mallory Koschany added two more, Kirstie Cochran squeezed in on a wild pitch, a double by Bell down the right field line produced another run, and singles by Megan Sullivan, Ashley Craig and Shlay Denison rounded out the double digit scoring in the inning.
 
OPSU (9-33, 2-18 Heartland) added two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Lady Chaps had pulled away by too big of a margin for the Aggies to make up the difference. Eltsosie (22-5) recorded the win with two hits and four strikeouts.
 
Game two was played at a much different pace, with LCU finding themselves down two runs in the top of the sixth.  With two outs on the board after a fly out by Colburn and a pop up by De La Paz, Eltsosie hit a homerun off of the left field foul pole to cut the Lady Chap deficit to 3-2. Katlin Reed and Koschany came through with singles, and another Bell double brought in a run to tie the game at 3-3. A Sullivan single to left field allowed Bell and Koschany to score for a 5-3 LCU advantage.
 
The Lady Chaps added one more run in the seventh on a Reed single to centerfield to go up 6-3 and LCU finished off the game by striking out two Aggies with runners on first and second to seal the victory. Eltsosie (23-5) grabbed another win with three hits and nine strikeouts.
 
Beuthien's early impact
First year Lady Chap Sydney Beuthien has made quite an impression during the 2015 season despite not playing high school softball. The Era, Texas, native's high school was so small it did not sponsor the sport, but the 5-9 standout athlete excelled in basketball and track and field. After being discovered by LCU Head Coach Daren Hays last summer, the freshman has been putting up impressive numbers to lead the Heartland Conference and rank nationally. Beuthien leads the league in home runs (11), RBI (41), total bases (95) and triples (3), and her numbers rank 10th nationally in home runs and RBI.
 
Lady Chaps making an impact statistically
In addition to Beuthien's statistical rankings, the Lady Chaps are showing up in several team categories as well, despite LCU having yet to crack the NFCA polls. LCU leads the league in batting average (.363), doubles per game (1.77), home runs per game (1.58), on base percentage (.448), scoring (8.06), slugging percentage (.610), stolen bases per game (1.81) and triples per game (.29).
The Lady Chap batting average is second best in the nation, while their slugging percentage ranks third, scoring is fourth, home runs per game is fifth and on base percentage is good enough for sixth.
 
LCU overpowered by No. 2 WT in doubleheader, drops final game in extra inning
CANYON, Texas (March 31, 2015) – A walk-off single by No. 2 West Texas A&M's Allie Smith in the eighth inning capped a furious rally over Lubbock Christian in which WT stormed back after trailing by four runs in the seventh inning to take the second game of a doubleheader, 7-6, that followed a 12-2 beating by the Lady Buffs in game one where the Lady Chaps tied a season-low with four hits and gave up 10 walks at Schaeffer Park Tuesday evening.
 
LCU (24-9) split a twin bill with WT (29-6) one week ago in Lubbock to knock the Lady Buffs out of first place in the polls, and things initially started well for the Lady Chaps during the matchup in Canyon. Faith Koria singled to left field and Sydney Beuthien scattered the ball through the pitcher's legs for two runners on base, but the next pair of LCU batters struck out and Beuthien was thrown out at second to end any chance of scoring.
 
Pitcher Courtney McGee, coming off of a 3-0 week for LCU, struggled early on by giving up three walks in the top of the order while catcher Shlay Denison also had a bit of difficulty with a pair of passed balls. Kaisha Dacosin singled through the left side to score two Lady Buffs before WT earned a walk, was hit by a pitch and reached on a fielder's choice for another pair of runs and a 4-0 advantage. WT's Ashley Hardin was en route to steal second, and as Denison attempted to throw her out, Lacey Taylor snuck into put the Lady Buffs up 5-0.
 
In the bottom of the second with one WT runner on base, Renee Erwin hit a homer to right center to extend the Lady Buff lead to 7-0. Beuthien made her way on base again, this time via a walk, and stole second to put herself in scoring position. Jessica Loiacano sent a single to left center to bring Beuthien home and give LCU its first score of the day.
 
Abbi White was sent in to replace McGee in the bottom of the third where the Lady Buffs tacked on a trio of runs, with one being credited to an interference call on LCU, to jump ahead 10-1. Ashton Bell tallied her fourth home run of the season as the leadoff batter in the bottom of the frame to lessen WT's lead to 10-2.
 
Savanna Luke stepped in the circle for White in the following inning where the Lady Buffs added two more runs to increase their lead to 12-2. Needing at least three runs to prolong the game, LCU came up short, grounding out to third base in the next three at bats to finish the game.
 
McGee (13-4) suffered the loss on seven runs, three hits, four walks and two strikeouts.
 
Game two began with the Lady Chaps striking first offensively with singles by Bell and Beuthien. Sammie Murrietta knocked a shot to left center and advanced to second on the throw while Beuthien made it to third and Bell scored. Liz Torres then smoked the ball towards first base where the defender made a nice play catching the line drive and forcing out Beuthien to conclude the inning.
 
Facing two outs in the top of the second, Addison Ard placed a single up the middle and Pam Pence was hit by a pitch to put runners on base. LCU benefited from a WT error by the shortstop that gave Ard just enough time to scamper home to double the Lady Chap lead to 2-0.
 
Murrietta booted the ball over the very tall left field fence on the second pitch of the third inning to increase LCU's lead to 3-0 before a scoreless fourth innng by both ball clubs. Things looked bleak in the top of the fifth for LCU as two outs were recorded against the first pair of Lady Chap batters. Loiacano kept her team alive with a single through the right side and Torres walked to first before both hitters were replaced by pinch runners Jenny Rigney and Alyssa Wartelle, respectively. Katlin Reed scored Rigney after a hit to the second baseman was dropped, bringing Wartelle to third. Molly Davison then walked to again load the bases, and a huge single through the left side by Ard on a full count scored Wartelle for a 5-0 LCU lead before a groundout ended the inning.
 
Bell stepped in for Hoppel in the circle and nailed Erwin on her first pitch, but she was called for leaving early to put one out on the board. Bell then hit Dacosin on a full count where she then made it to third following a wild pitch and passed ball. Smith jacked a shot to deep right field that bobbled out of Beuthien's glove to score Dacosin and pull WT to within 5-1 before Bell struck out Allie Cranfill.
 
Rita Hokianga replaced pitcher Hannah Newcomb and did her job well as she retired the Lady Chaps in order in the top of the sixth. Hardin narrowed the gap to 5-2 in the second half of the inning with a home run to right center, but Bell was able to leave the bases loaded by striking out Dacosin.
 
Reed homered to left center in the seventh with two outs registered to give the Lady Chaps a bit more breathing room before the Lady Buffs made the most of their last opportunity. WT immediately loaded the bases off of two singles and an LCU fielding error. Bell struck Tyler Wilkinson at the plate to push runners up a base, resulting in a score. Hoppel was called back in to finish the game but granted a walk for another Lady Buff run to close the gap to 6-4 with one out. A hard Erwin single up the middle scored another pair before Hoppel retired Dacosin to prolong the game.
 
In the extra inning with Ard on second due to the international tie breaker rule, Pence notched a sacrifice fly to push Ard to third, but Bell lined out and Beuthien flied out to move the Lady Chaps onto the defensive end. For WT, a sacrifice bunt pushed Dacosin to third, setting up the Smith single through the right side to bring Dacosin home for the 7-6 win.
 
Hoppel (6-2) took the loss with one run, eight hits, three walks and three strikeouts.