LUBBOCK, Texas (April 16, 2016) – No.10 Lubbock Christian University produced nine two-out base hits and completed a three-game Heartland Conference sweep against Texas A&M International with a 11-2 win Saturday at Hays Field.
 
LCU produced 19 two-out RBI in the three-game series, with eight produced Saturday. The production stemmed off a team batting average of .529 (9-for-17) with two outs in the game and a mark of .477 (21-for-44) in the series with two outs. Saturday, five different Chaps had at least one RBI produced in two-out situations.
 
The two-out damage started in the first inning. With Jaime Bustamante at second base with two outs, JP Rousseau, Tony Reyes and Brennan Johnson each hit doubles and Brent Stewart hit a single. All four hits drove in a run and LCU led 4-0 after the first inning.
 
Dustdevils starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez followed Johnson's double going the next 13 batters without allowing a hit. That allowed the Dustdevils to try and catch up offensively and they nearly did. A pair of lead-off walks was followed by a RBI-double from Ian Acosta, and Alexander Cabezas singled in a run to cut LCU's lead to 4-2 in the fourth inning.
 
Chaps starter Russell Reber and relief pitchers Glen Warrick and Albert Aveytia combined to face 10 straight TAMIU batters without allowing a hit, and meanwhile the Chaps bats came back alive. Hunter McFall ended LCU sequence of 13 consecutive batters without a hit by producing a single to centerfield to extend his hit streak to 22 games (reaching base in 24 consecutive games). McFall's hit came in the fifth inning and it sparked a three-run inning for a 7-2 lead. Brent Stewart followed Tony Reyes' RBI-single with a triple and eventually scored on a Johnson single to account for the three runs.
 
McFall led six Chap multi-hit performers with a three-hit game. He produced an RBI-single in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 8-2 and followed with an at-bat in the eighth inning with a double to the right centerfield wall to score another run. His RBI in the eighth inning was the first run of a three-run inning. The scoring came to a close with Ryan Rogers hitting a two-run pinch hit home run over the left centerfield wall for his first career home run.
 
Reber, making his third start in a week's span, claimed the win to improve to 5-1 on the season. He allowed two runs off four hits in five innings. Warrick, Aveytia and Collin Fraley combined for four innings of scoreless relief. Rodriguez fell to 3-7 with the loss, allowing eight runs off 10 hits in 5.1 innings.
 
Five different Chaps had an RBI in the game for LCU. Johnson, McFall, Reyes, Rogers and Stewart each had two runs-batted-in. Cabezas and Acosta each went 2-for-4 for TAMIU.
The win marked LCU's eighth consecutive conference victory and they improve to 14-4 in conference to remain atop the conference standings. They are 28-11 overall. TAMIU fell to 16-23 overall and 7-11 in conference. LCU remains home Tuesday and hosts Eastern New Mexico for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.458 – LCU had a team on-base percentage of .458 in the game.
.538 – Jaime Bustamante completed the series with TAMIU leading LCU with a .538 batting average with a 7-for-13 performance at the plate.
6 – LCU had six extra-base hits in the game and had a 6-1 advantage in extra-base hits.
6 – The Chaps improved to 6-0 all-time at home against TAMIU.
9 – Hunter McFall had his ninth three-hit game of the season.