NO.6 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (13-4) at NEWMAN (12-5)
Friday, March 11 –
Game 1: 2:00 p.m. Game 2: 4:00 p.m.
McCarthy Field (Wichita, Kan.)
Live Scoring: http://www.sidearmstats.com/newmanu/baseball/
Radio: None
All-Time Series: LCU leads 5-1
 
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
 
GAME 1
LCU – Russell Reber (2-0, 4.55 ERA)
NU – Lucas Schauer (2-0, 4.15 ERA)
 
GAME 2
LCU – Guillaume Blanchette (3-1, 1.50 ERA)
NU – Dylan Porter (2-0, 4.15 ERA)
 
RANKINGS
LCU: No. 6 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper), No.10 (NCBWA), No.24 (D2Baseball News).
NU: Unranked
 
HAVING HEART
Friday, LCU and Newman open Heartland Conference play. LCU seeks to bounce back this season in conference, as they followed a first place finish in 2014 going 10-14 in conference last season. The Chaps are 11-1 all-time in conference openers and 1-1 all-time in Heartland Conference openers. Their only conference opening loss came last season at Arkansas – Fort Smith.
 
NO RUSS-T
LCU is going with Russell Reber on the mound in the opener. Reber is 2-0 this season with a 4.55 ERA. He is coming off his best appearance, with his last appearance going five innings with two hits allowed on Mar. 3 against Texas-Permian Basin. He has allowed two runs over his last 10.2 innings.
 
BLANCHETTE TO FOLLOW
In the second game of Friday's doubleheader, LCU will start Guillaume Blanchette on the mound. He is 4-0 on the season with a 0.79 ERA and three complete games. Opponents are batting .132 against him this season. He has allowed one run in his last combined four starts.
 
REVVING UP THE JETS
Dylan Porter and Kane McCarthy are expected to make starts on the mound for Newman in the series, but not before ace Lucas Schauer takes the hill in the opener. Schauer, who has gone the distance in all four games started, is 3-1 and coming off a loss to Augustana. He allowed three of the five runs allowed on the season in the contest. Porter will make his fourth start of the season and is coming off his longest outing of the season, a 7.1 inning start against Augustana (no decision). He is 2-0 this season and has 13 strikeouts in his last two combined starts. McCarthy is 2-1 with a 3.22 ERA. Opponents are hitting .202 against him this season. He is coming off his shortest stint (2.2 innings on Mar.6 vs. Augustana) of the season.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT NEWMAN
- The Jets are 12-5 on the season and 10-2 at home.
- They are coming of a four-game split with Augustana and had won nine of 10 games entering the series.
- Newman is hitting .315 as a team, with Tyler Bugner leading the team with a .525 batting average. Bugner has 31 hits and a .616 on-base percentage.
- Newman was preseason picked seventh in the Heartland Conference Preseason Poll after going 12-15 last season in conference play.
- Jets pitchers have combined for seven complete games this season (three shutouts).