ROGERS STATE (12-23, 3-15) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (20-19, 7-8)Friday, April 17, 2015 – Game 1: 3 p.m. / Game 2: 5 p.m.                                                  Â
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: LCU leads 19-6
Lubbock Christian University, who has played six of their last seven games on the road, returns home Friday for a doubleheader at 3 p.m. to open a Heartland Conference three-game series with Rogers State University.
The Chaps head into the series with a 20-19 overall record and a conference mark of 7-8. LCU's last game was Tuesday on the road at West Texas A&M, as they fell 6-5. The Chaps last conference series came last week in Laredo, Texas, where LCU and Texas A&M International split a two-game series. LCU, 9-7 at home, has lost four of their last five home games, including three straight conference home games. With nine games remaining, LCU's maximum number of wins they can garner this season is 29 (unless more games are scheduled). The fewest amount of wins in a season for LCU is 28 from the 1971 season (first season in program history and the only season with less than 30 wins).
LCU is hitting .305 as a team this season.
Hunter McFall leads the team hitting .372 with 58 hits and 38 RBI. The Chaps have produced 124 extra-base hits, with 27 home runs. The home runs have come from 11 different players.
Ethan Kohnle leads the team with 16 extra-base hits with 12 doubles, two triples and two homers.
Wade Stramp ranks tied for second in the nation in walks with 37.
Jesse Pintado leads LCU in Heartland Conference hitting with a .359 average at the plate. McFall leads LCU with 20 hits and 13 RBI in conference games.
On the mound, LCU has a 5.29 ERA overall on the season, with a 4.12 ERA in conference play. They are expected to have
Brig Gerlich pitch the opener and
Guillaume Blanchette pitch in the second game. Gerlich is 5-5 this season with a 4.30 ERA. He leads the staff with 47 strikeouts and five complete games. Gerlich went without a decision last season in an 8-7 LCU win in extra innings over RSU. He went five innings and allowed three runs off seven hits. Blanchette is 4-4 this season with a 4.19 ERA.
RSU comes to Lubbock 12-23 on the season and 3-15 in conference. They have lost their last three games (swept in a conference series against Texas-Permian Basin) and five of their last six games. The Hillcats are hitting .269 as a team overall and .243 in conference. Caleb Kohlmeyer leads RSU hitting .327 on the season. He co-leads the team in hits (36) with Cesar Rodriguez. Andrew Vanisi, who leads the team in hitting in conference (.344), leads the team with 29 RBI on the season.
The Hillcats have a staff ERA of 5.13, with a mark of 5.10 in conference. Mason Marquette is expected to start the opener followed by Michael Fusselman in the second game. Marquette, 4-5 on the season with a 4.18 ERA, pitched the opener against Gerlich last season and went without a decision allowing four runs (three earned) off eight hits in 4.1 innings. Fusselman, a Northeastern Oklahoma A&M transfer, is 2-5 with a 4.30 ERA.
LCU leads the all-time series with a 19-6 mark. The Chaps swept a three-game series last season and a four-game conference series in Lubbock in 2013. In the conference series, the home team has only won the series three times (out of eight series). This season's series involves the first with RSU's first-year head coach Chris Klimas.
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