LUBBOCK, Texas (April 16, 2016) – No.10 Lubbock Christian University received six runs-batted-in from Brett Wilhelm and were able to bounce back from a pair of early deficits to sweep a twinbill with a 12-4 and 9-3 win over Texas A&M International University in Heartland Conference play Friday at Hays Field.
 
In the opening game, TAMIU was able to score in each of the first four innings off Chaps ace Guillaume Blanchette, who was on two days rest after pitching in LCU's 15-inning marathon Tuesday at West Texas A&M. William Mora opened the scoring with a solo home run with two outs in the first inning. LCU answered with a home run in the bottom of the second inning with Wilhelm hitting a two-run homer beyond the left field fence to tie the game at 2-2.  TAMIU led 4-2 in the top of the fourth inning following a double by Mario Ramirez. LCU cut the deficit to 4-3 with a home run by Tony Reyes in the bottom of the fourth inning, and went on to take the lead with a two-run fifth inning. Jaime Bustamante opened the bottom of the fifth inning with a double and scored on a single from Brandon Rix, who eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Reyes. TAMIU, trailing 5-4, had an opportunity to tie and take the lead but was unable to do so in the top of the sixth inning. The Dustdevils had the bases loaded with one out, but Blanchette struck out Abel Aguilar for a fourth time and Albert Aveytia came in relief to retire Mora, who was robbed of an RBI base hit by a diving catch made by left fielder Brandon Urquizo for the third out.
 
LCU exploded with a seven-run sixth inning. The first two batters were retired before LCU had eight straight batters reach base safely (with two outs). Six of the eight batters produced hits, including a bases loaded three-run double by Wilhelm to complete a five-RBI game.
 
Blanchette went 5.2 innings to claim the win (9-1) and struck out seven batters. Aveytia claimed his second save of the season. Osvaldo Raya also went 5.2 innings, but the TAMIU starter suffered the loss (6-3) allowing eight runs off 10 hits. Reliever Justin Diaz allowed four runs off four hits in 0.1 innings pitched.
 
Bustamante (3-for-4), McFall (3-for-4) and Reyes (3-for-3) each had three-hit games for LCU. Reyes had three runs and three RBI to join Wilhelm's five-RBI performance. Ramirez (2-for-3) and Alex Medina (2-for-4) each led TAMIU with a pair of hits. LCU produced 14 hits, with eight coming with two outs (8-for-14 with two outs) leading to eight two-out RBI.
 
The Chaps had another slow start in the second game and had to battle back from a 2-0 deficit after an error and a pair of singles and sacrifices led to a two-run second inning for TAMIU. LCU trailed 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning. Starting pitcher Dustin Labat went a span of 12 straight batters faced without allowing a hit, but the 10^th and 11^th batters of that span were Urquizo and Bustamante, who were each hit by pitches to start off the bottom of the fifth inning. It proved to be costly for TAMIU, as McFall grounded out to score Urquizo and then Brent Stewart (double) and Reyes (single) followed with runs-batted-in with two outs to give LCU a 3-2 lead. The Dustdevils tied the game in the top of the sixth with Sergio Pollorena following Mora's leadoff double with a RBI-double. Chaps starting pitcher Ricky Contreras was able to get out of the jam and kept the Dustdevils from regaining the lead. LCU regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with Bustamante driving in Jesse Pintado with a single to make it 4-3. Chase Simmons added a run with a single in the seventh inning to extend the lead to 5-3 before LCU pulled away with a four-run eighth inning. McFall extended his hit streak to 21 games in the eighth inning with a two-run double, Stewart tripled and Wilhelm doubled to highlight the four-run eighth inning.
 
Contreras improved to 6-0 with the win on the mound. He allowed one earned run off eight hits in seven innings. Brent Bezio and Christian Buatte each pitched a hitless inning in relief. Labit took the loss (3-6), allowing five runs off eight hits in seven innings.
 
McFall finished the game with a trio of runs driven in to lead the Chaps in RBI. Stewart led LCU with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate (six total bases). Mora and Ramirez co-led TAMIU by each going 2-for-4 at the plate.
 
LCU has won seven consecutive conference games and are 27-11 overall and 13-4 in conference play. TAMIU fell to 16-22 overall and 7-10 in conference play. The two teams are scheduled to complete the three-game series Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6 – The total number of RBI produced by Brett Wilhelm in the doubleheader. Wilhelm was 3-for-4 with two outs and all six of his RBI were two-out RBI (He had three on the season entering the day).
9 – Nine different Chaps had at least one hit with a runner on base in the twinbill.
11 – Number of two-out RBI the Chaps had on the day. They had an 11-4 advantage in the category.
21 – Hunter McFall has hit safely in 21 consecutive games and has at least one hit in all 17 conference games.