LUBBOCK, Texas (March 25, 2016) – They did complete a triple play, but what No.10 Lubbock Christian was unable to do was complete their third consecutive walk-off win. They had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning but were unable to come back from an 8-5 deficit and fell 9-7 Saturday afternoon to Arkansas-Fort Smith in the third game of a Heartland Conference series at Hays Field.
 
The Chaparrals completed the series doubleheader Thursday with consecutive 5-4 walk-off wins, but they would not find the same luck Friday. Trailing 9-7 after a Lions insurance run in the top half of the ninth inning, LCU received a one-out walk to Brandon Rix and Tony Reyes reached on an infield single in the bottom half of the inning to bring up the winning run to the plate. Lions pitcher Collin Ogilvie prevented any further threat forcing JP Rousseau into grounding out (advanced runners into scoring position) and Jesse Pintado flied out to end the game.
 
UAFS produced the most hits by a Chaps opponent this season (19), but they had to play from behind as LCU scored the game's first five runs in the first two innings. Hunter McFall, Rix and Tony Reyes each drove in a run during a three-run first inning and LCU followed with two more runs in the second inning. Brandon Urquizo and McFall each doubled in the inning leading to a 5-0 lead.
 
The Lions roared in the third inning with a six-run response. Kasey Cooper was responsible for most of the damage for UAFS with a grand slam during the seven-hit inning. They added to the 6-5 lead with two runs off four hits in the fourth inning. Nick Yoning's double was the only extra-base hit of the four hits in the inning and it extended the UAFS lead to 8-5.
 
LCU's comeback bid looked promising in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and no outs trailing 8-6 after a run off a single by Brent Stewart earlier in the inning. That was until Jaime Bustamante grounded into a double play and Brett Wilhelm grounded out to end the threat with LCU trailing 8-7.
 
The Chaps completed a rare triple play in the sixth inning. With Glen Warrick on the mound, he forced Jacob Leal into a 5-4-3 around-the-horn triple play. It is the first triple play seen at Hays Field since the Chaps hit into one on Apr. 18, 2015 against Rogers State.
 
Of the 19 UAFS hits, four were by Josh Vanderpool (4-for-6) and Yoning (3-for-5) and Trevor Cone (3-for-6) each had three hits. Hayden Harvey earned the win (1-1) allowing two runs off five hits. LCU's Brent Bezio started and suffered the loss (4-1) allowing six runs off 10 hits in 2.1 innings. Rousseau was 2-for-4 in the loss and was joined by McFall (2-for-5) and Reyes (2-for-5), who each also had two hits.
 
The loss places LCU with a 6-3 conference mark and they are 20-8 overall. UAFS improved to 18-9 overall and 7-2 in conference. The win was the Lions first ever win in Lubbock (1-5).
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7 – JP Rousseau went 7-for-12 (.583) in the series with three RBI.
7-1 – LCU committed one error in the series, while UAFS committed seven. The only error was by an outfielder for LCU. Jaime Bustamante had 14 assists and did not commit an error in the series.
11 – UAFS combined for 11 hits in the third and fourth innings.
13 – Of the Lions 19 hits Friday, 13 came with runners on base.