No.6 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (9-1) at COLORADO STATE – PUEBLO (4-3)
Friday, February 26 2 p.m. (Central)
Rawlings Field (Pueblo, Colo.)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm
All-Time Series: No Prior Meetings
 
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
LCU – Russell Reber (1-0, 6.16 ERA)
CSU-P – Brandon Conlin (2-1, 2.51 ERA)
 
RANKINGS
LCU: No. 6 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper), No.11 (NCBWA), No.24 (D2Baseball News).
 
CSU-P: Unranked
            
RECOGNITION
There are several national polls in college baseball and LCU's 9-1 season start has caught the attention of several of the polls. LCU made their debut in three of the national polls last week, receiving recognition from College Baseball Newspaper (No.10), NCBWA (No.16) and D2Baseball News (No.30) in their poll debut. This week, they move up in the rankings, with CBN ranking LCU No.6 for their best ranking of the young season.
 
THROUGH 10
LCU's 9-1 record through 10 games is matches their third best program record in an opening 10-game stretch.  LCU opened 1983 and 2011 10-0, and this season's 9-1 mark matches 10-game starts from 1977, 2002, 2008 and 2009 in which the team was 9-1.
 
HOLDING THINGS DOWN
LCU's bullpen has a 2.51 ERA this season and four of the team's nine wins have been recorded by a bullpen member (4-0). Opponents are batting .229 against LCU relievers and only two extra-base hits have been allowed. Eight different Chap pitchers have taken the mound in relief and none has allowed more than two earned runs.
 
RECORD SUMMARY
The Chaps are 5-0 when scoring first in a game…7-0 when leading after the sixth inning and do not have a loss this season when leading after any inning… 7-0 when out-hitting an opponent…
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
For a second consecutive week, a Lubbock Christian University player has been recognized as a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Player of the Week honoree. This week, Chaparrals left-handed pitcher Guillaume Blanchette was named NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week.
 
Blanchette had an impressive outing in Saturday's 6-1 win over No.9 Angelo State, pitching his second career complete game and first one-hitter. Blanchette had a no-hitter through five innings and it came to an end in the sixth inning off a lead-off single. The Chaps pitcher revenged the hit by picking off the runner and retiring the final 11 batters faced. Blanchette, who allowed no earned runs, faced 31 batters and fanned six in the complete game.
 
The honor as the first ever for Blanchette, a senior from St.-Constant, Quebec who also claimed Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Week honors earlier this week. He is the first LCU pitcher honored nationally this season and the second overall Chap recognized for a national honor. Brett Wilhelm claimed conference and national Hitter of the Week honors last week. Blachette becomes the first pitcher to claim a national weekly honor since LCU has made the move to NCAA Div. II. Overall, Blanchette is the 10th Chap all-time to be recognized for a NCBWA or NAIA National Player of the Week honor and he is the second Chaps pitcher to claim the accolade. The only prior time an LCU pitcher received a national weekly pitching honor was Brad Hill during the 1991 season.  
 
Blanchette leads the Heartland Conference in opposing batting average (.125), and ranks fourth in ERA (0.82) and innings pitched (22.0) and seventh in strikeouts (18). He has not allowed an extra-base hit this season.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Chaparrals head to Pueblo, Colo. for their first road games of the season. LCU went 6-11 on the road last season, with Brett Wilhelm leading the team with a .310 batting average on the road. Guillaume Blanchette was the team leader in ERA on the road last season with an ERA of 2.17. The Chaps dropped their first seven road games last season and then followed going 6-4 the rest of the way.
 
GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WITH TWO OUTS
LCU has a 29-9 scoring advantage against their opponents in two-out runs-batted-in. Ten different Chaps have at least one RBI in a two-out situation and Hunter McFall leads the team with eight. McFall leads LCU with eight hits in two-out at-bats and LCU is batting .330 as a team in two-out situations.
 
OPENING IT UP
LCU will go with Russell Reber, who will make his fourth start of the season. He is 1-0 this season and LCU is 3-0 in games he starts. The Chaps have produced run support, scoring at least seven runs in all three games he has started. Reber has gone at least 5.2 innings in all his starts, including a 7.1 inning start on Feb.12 vs. New Mexico Highlands. He struck out seven in that start. Reber went six innings in his last start (Feb. 19 vs. No.9 Angelo State) and allowed four runs off seven hits. He ranks ninth in the Heartland Conference in innings pitched (19).
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CSU-PUEBLO
-The ThunderWolves are coming off a 41-16 season in 2015. They went 24-6 at home and 28-10 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play. They advanced to the South Central Regional last season.
-CSU-Pueblo is preseason picked second in the RMAC behind Colorado Mesa and received one first-place vote. They were picked to top the Plains Division in the RMAC.
-Three ThunderWolves made the Preseason All-RMAC Team, with catcher Beau Cebulski, first baseman Dominick Bregar and outfielder Jordan Godman making the list.  
-The ThunderWolves are hitting .289 as a team with Bregar hitting .429 to lead the team. They have a staff ERA of 5.90.
-Brandon Conlin will get the start in Friday's game. He is 2-1 on the season with a 2.51 ERA. He has not allowed an earned run in his last two appearances (combining 11 innings).
 
HISTORY WITH CSU-PUEBLO
The two teams have never met. LCU is 6-0 this season against RMAC squads. The Chaps games in Pueblo will mark their first ever games played on Colorado soil in program history.