OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (25-16, 11-10) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (21-21, 8-10)
Saturday, April 25, 2015 – Game 1: 1 p.m. / Game 2: 3 p.m.                                                    
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: KJTV AM950/100.7FM
All-Time Series: LCU leads 54-14
Tweet #LCUvsOC

The final Lubbock Christian University home series gets underway Saturday, with Lubbock Christian University hosting Oklahoma Christian University for a three-game Heartland Conference series at Hays Field.

The Chaps enter the series 21-21 overall and 8-10 in the conference after an 11-10 win last Saturday in their series finale against Rogers State University to end a three-game losing streak. LCU is in need to win the series to complete the season with an above-.500 win percentage at home this season (10-9). With 21 wins and six games remaining, the Chaps can only win a maximum 27 games this season (unless game(s) are added to their schedule), which would mark a program single-season low. The prior mark was 28 from their inaugural 1971 season.

Lubbock Christian is hitting .305 as a team this season. They have 28 home runs, with production coming from 11 different players. Hunter McFall leads the team with a .361 hitting mark. McFall leads the team with 61 hits and 38 RBI. Wade Stramp ranks fourth in the nation in walks with 38 on the season. Stramp also leads the team in conference hitting, batting .333 in conference. The Chaps are batting .274 in conference play.  

With a 5.69 ERA, LCU is expected to go with Brig Gerlich and Guillaume Blanchette on the mound Saturday. Gerlich is 5-6 with a 4.76 ERA and leads the team with 49 strikeouts and five complete games. He went the distance last season in a 6-1 win at Oklahoma Christian, holding the Eagles to three hits. Blanchette is 4-5 on the season and has a 4.93 ERA.

OC is 25-16 overall on the season and 11-10 in conference play. They lost two of three last week to St. Mary's University, losing the final two games of the series to halt a six-game win streak. They are hitting .284 as a squad this season, with Derek Jones leading the way with a .347 batting average. Kolton Brown and Kyle Lacy each have five homers and Ben McKenzie leads the team in RBI (33) to balance the offense. Lacy leads the team in conference hitting with a .304 average in conference play (team is batting .271 in conference).

The Eagles staff ERA of 3.49 ranks third in the conference. Dillon Endecott is slated to pitch the opener. He has a 2.09 ERA with a 5-3 record and is tied for second in the conference in strikeouts with 57. Edecott earned a save against LCU last season in a 10-9 OC win. Kelby Reneau is slated to pitch the second game. He is 3-5 with a 2.23 ERA. Reneau is holding opponents to a .236 average, but the Eagles could not score more than a run in his last three losses.

LCU won two of three games last season in the meeting between the two squads at OC. LCU is 54-14 all-time against Oklahoma Christian in a series that dates back to 1972. LCU, winners of six of the prior seven meetings, is 28-4 all-time against OC at Hays Field. OC has not visited Hays Field since Feb. 25, 2012, as LCU swept a three-game conference series as Sooner Athletic Conference foes.