TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL (16-20, 7-8) at No.10 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (25-11, 11-4)
Friday, April 15 –
Game 1: 3:00 p.m. Game 2: 5:00 p.m.
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
Live Scoring / Online Video / Online Audio: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/lcu
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: LCU leads 4-1
 
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
 
GAME 1
LCU – Guillaume Blanchette (8-1, 1.22 ERA)
TAMIU – Osvaldo Raya (6-2, 4.94 ERA)
 
GAME 2
LCU – Ricky Contreras (5-0, 1.41 ERA)
TAMIU – Dustin Labit (3-5, 5.30 ERA)
 
RANKINGS
LCU: No. 10 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper), No.18 (D2Baseball News), No.15 (NCBWA), No. 23 (Perfect Game), No.30 (Hero Sports),
TAMIU: Unranked
 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
No.10 Lubbock Christian University takes a five-game Heartland Conference win streak into a conference three-game series hosting Texas A&M International with a doubleheader Friday. LCU enters the series tied atop the conference standings but holding a head-to-head tiebreaker with St. Edward's. TAMIU enters the series 7-8 in conference and in eighth place.
 
ABOVE AVERAGE
LCU leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 28^th nationally batting .330 on the season.  The Chaps have produced at least 10 hits in 25 of 36 games played this season. Two of the top six in batting in the Heartland Conference are members of the Chaps (Hunter McFall .431 ranks second and Brandon Rix .378 ranks sixth).
 
THE HUNTER
Hunter McFall leads the team hitting .431 and producing 37 RBI.  The senior infielder ranks 29^th nationally with 59 hits. He leads the team with 19 multi-hit games (seven games of at least three hits) and has 10 multi-RBI games. McFall also ranks 35^th nationally in on base percentage (.509), and he is hitting .474 over the past 10 games (.553 on base percentage the past 10 games).
 
CONFERENCE TRENDS
The Chaparrals are hitting .320 in conference games and have a 2.80 staff ERA. Hunter McFall is hitting .458 in conference games and JP Rousseau is 17-of-37 (.459) in Heartland play as well. Rousseau (10) and Brent Stewart (10) lead the Chaps in conference RBI, but the Chaps have five players with at least eight RBI. Pitchers Guillaume Blanchette (4-1) and Ricky Contreras (3-0) have combined to go 7-1 in conference games.
 
STREAKS
Hunter McFall enters Saturday's game on a 19-game hit streak and has reached base safely in 22 consecutive games. McFall has a 15-game conference hit streak (at least one hit in all conference games). The hit streaks are the longest by a Chap this season.
 
BLANCHETTE TO OPEN
In the opening game of Friday's doubleheader, LCU will start Guillaume Blanchette on the mound. He is 8-1 on the season (tied for third in the nation) with a 1.27 ERA (12th nationally) and seven complete games (tied for the national lead). Opponents are batting .184 against him this season. Blanchette also ranks seventh nationally in WHIP (0.78) and 27th in hits allowed per nine innings (6.1).
 
THE RICK
LCU is going with freshman Ricky Contreras on the mound in the second game. Contreras is 5-0 with a 1.41 ERA this season (ranks 19^th nationally). He leads the team in appearances (16) and has made two starts on the season. He has allowed one run over his last two appearances, which have added up to nine innings. Opponents are hitting .159 against him in conference and .188 overall. Contreras ranks 17^th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (5.8) and 21^st in WHIP (0.93).
 
ON THEIR HILL
The Dustdevils are expected to start Osvaldo Raya in the opener and Dustin Labit in the second game on the mound. Raya (6-2, 4.94 ERA) did not have a decision in his last outing (last Friday hosting Rogers State). He went six innings and allowed six runs off eight hits and struck out five batters. Raya has gone at least five innings in his last four appearances. Labit (3-5, 5.30 ERA) had the win in a 5-1 victory over RSU last Friday. He matched a season high with eight strikeouts while holding RSU to one run off four hits. 
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TAMIU
- The Dustdevils are 16-20 on the season, 7-8 in conference and 11-7 on the road this season.
- They are coming off a three-game series against Rogers State, which they lost two of three of the games.
- TAMIU is hitting .290 as a team, with Sergio Pollorena hitting .451 on the season. He has nine doubles and five homers on the season.
- TAMIU was preseason picked ninth in the Heartland Conference Preseason Poll after going 7-19 last season in conference play.
- Dustdevils pitcher Osvaldo Raya leads the conference and ranks fifth in the nation in starts with 11 starts on the mound this season.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
LCU leads the all-time series with an advantage of 4-1. The Chaps, who swept the last season series in Lubbock (2014), went 1-1 in Laredo last season in a series held to two games due to weather.