OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE (5-29, 1-11) at NO.12 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (22-10, 8-4)
Friday, April 8 –
Game 1: 3:00 p.m. Game 2: 5:00 p.m.
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: LCU leads 43-4
Tweet #LCUvsOPSU
 
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
 
GAME 1
LCU – Guillaume Blanchette (7-1, 1.41 ERA)
OPSU – Sam Beattie (2-5, 4.54 ERA)
 
GAME 2
LCU – Ricky Contreras (4-0, 1.51 ERA)
OPSU – Adrian Lopez (0-5, 8.15 ERA)
 
RANKINGS
LCU: No. 12 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper), No.14 (NCBWA), No.18 (D2Baseball News), No.24 (Perfect Game), No.26 (Hero Sports).
OPSU: Unranked
 
AG WEEK CONTINUES
Lubbock Christian University, seeking to rebound after a 14-10 loss Tuesday to the Aggies of Cameron University, opens a three game Heartland Conference series Friday with a doubleheader against the Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle State University. LCU, 22-10 overall) is tied atop the Heartland Conference standings with an 8-4 record alongside Newman and St. Edward's. LCU has a 2-1 record against those two teams and has a 2-1 record in all four conference series they have played in. OPSU enters the series ninth in the conference.
 
ABOVE AVERAGE
LCU leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 38th nationally batting .323 on the season.  The Chaps have produced at least 10 hits in 22 of 32 games played this season. Two of the top seven in batting in the Heartland Conference are members of the Chaps (Hunter McFall .423 ranks third and Brandon Rix .375 ranks seventh).
 
THE HUNTER
Hunter McFall ranks in the top-50 this season with a mark of .423 on the season (third in the conference). He has 52 hits ranking second in the Heartland and 40^th nationwide. McFall also ranks in the top-five in the conference in on base percentage (.497, third), RBI per game (1.13, third) and RBI (36, fourth).
 
CONFERENCE TRENDS
The Chaparrals are hitting .292 in conference games and have a 3.28 staff ERA. Hunter McFall is hitting .420 in conference games and JP Rousseau is 14-of-30 (.467) in Heartland play as well. McFall (9), Rousseau (8) and Brent Stewart (8) have balanced out to combine for 25 of the team's 53 runs-batted-in in 12 conference tilts. Pitchers Guillaume Blanchette (3-1) and Ricky Contreras (2-0) have combined to go 5-1 in conference games. All Contreras' wins have come in relief.
 
STREAKS
Hunter McFall enters Friday's doubleheader on a 15-game hit streak and has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games. McFall has a 12-game conference hit streak (at least one hit in all conference games). The hit streaks are the longest by a Chap this season and the reached base streak matches Jaime Bustamante for the longest of the season.
 
BLANCHETTE TO OPEN
In the opening game of Friday's doubleheader, LCU will start Guillaume Blanchette on the mound. He is 7-1 on the season (tied for fourth in the nation) with a 1.41 ERA (17th nationally) and six complete games (tied for second nationally). Opponents are batting .167 against him this season. Blanchette also ranks third nationally in WHIP (0.68) and 16th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.2).
 
STARTING DEBUT
LCU is going with freshman Ricky Contreras on the mound in the second game. Contreras is 4-0 with a 1.51 ERA this season (ranks 23^rd nationally). He made his first collegiate start last week at St. Edward's and went five innings of no-hit ball before finishing with two runs allowed in six innings of work in the no-decision appearance. Opponents are hitting .175 overall. Contreras' start last week marked the first time head coach Nathan Blackwood has started a freshman pitcher in a conference game in his 13 seasons as Chaps head coach.
 
ON THEIR HILL
The Aggies are expected to start Sam Beattie in the opener and Adrian Lopez in the second game on the mound. Beattie (2-5, 4.54 ERA) has only been able to make it through four innings of work once in his last four starts. He allowed five runs off eight hits in 2.1 innings last Friday in a 7-4 loss to Texas A&M International.  Lopez (0-5, 8.15) is seeking his first win of the season after eight appearances on the hill. His last outing was 5.2 innings last Friday in a 10-0 loss to TAMIU. He allowed nine runs off seven hits in the start. 
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT OPSU
- The Aggies are 5-29 on the season, 1-13 in conference and 1-14 on the road.
- They are coming off a three-game series in which they were swept by Texas A&M International. They head to Lubbock on a six-game losing streak.
- OPSU is hitting .236 as a team, with Joseph Cerda hitting .293 on the season. He has 27 hits and 16 runs on the season.
- Oklahoma Panhandle was preseason picked ninth in the Heartland Conference Preseason Poll after going 2-25 last season in conference play.
- Aggies starting pitcher Sam Beattie ranks 29^th nationally and leads the conference with a pace of 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Chaps swept the three-game series last season in Goodwell, Okla. and swept the prior series at Hays Field in 2014. That 2014 series marked their first meetings since Feb. 20, 2001. The Chaps are 43-4 overall and 28-2 at Hays Field against the Aggies all-time. The last win for OPSU came on Feb. 27, 1999, as LCU has won 12 consecutive meetings heading into Friday.