LUBBOCK, Texas (Friday, April 03, 2015) – Lubbock Christian tied season highs with 16 runs and 15 RBI in a 16-0 thumping of Oklahoma Panhandle State in five innings while the pitching duo of Courtney McGee and Lauren Hardin allowed only a single Aggie hit on Good Friday at PlainsCapital Park.
 
The Lady Chaps (27-9, 16-1 Heartland) continued their offensive firepower a day after their sweep of OPSU (9-28, 1-14 Heartland) and remain in first place within the conference, sitting a spot above a 12-2 St. Mary's team.
 
Jessica Loiacano gained her first RBI of the day on a single through the left side to give the Lady Chaps a slim 1-0 lead in the first before piling on the offense in the following inning. Ashton Bell led off with a walk and stole second before being brought home on a barely fair Molly Davison double down the left field line. Consecutive walks to Katlin Reed, Kelsey Hoppel and Faith Koria scored Davison to up LCU's lead to 3-0. Sydney Beuthien sailed a shot to center field that was disrupted by the wind to drop and let Reed make it around. A double play put Koria out at third and caught Hoppel attempting to go home before Loiacano sent a home run to left field to extend the advantage to 7-0.
 
Three Aggie errors in the third contributed to a long inning where a dozen Lady Chaps saw time at the plate and six runs were scored on four hits. Addison Ard made the most of the miscues by making her way to home off of a trio of errors and a wild pitch. Buethien contributed an RBI single and Sammie Murrietta added a double to center field for two more scores and an 11-0 lead. Roxy Curiel singled through the left side to score Murrietta, and Ard made her way to bat for the second time in the inning to contribute a sacrifice fly to bring around Haley Hardison for a 13-0 Lady Chap advantage.
 
Pitcher Courtney McGee opened the fourth inning having faced the minimum number of batters to hold OPSU scoreless, but the second batter of the frame, Darcie Wilson, fired the ball up the middle past McGee to ruin her chance of a no-hitter. Lauren Hardin stepped in the circle to carry LCU the remainder of the way.
 
The Lady Chaps added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth on an Alyssa Wartelle RBI single and a Curiel double to right center that allowed two runners home for the 16-0 advantage. Hardin then retired the first three OPSU batters in the fifth to conclude the contest.
 
McGee (15-4) earned the win on one hit and a pair of walks.
 
The Lady Chaps travel to Portales, N.M., on Tuesday for a non-conference doubleheader at Eastern New Mexico beginning at 2 p.m.