No.19 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (35-17, 6-Seed) at Colorado Mesa (43-11, 1-Seed)
Thursday, April 19 – 1 p.m. (Central)
Sam Suplizio Field (Grand Junction, Colo.)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm
All-Time Series: No Prior Meetings
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Lubbock Christian University, without postseason play the past two seasons due to transitioning from NAIA to NCAA, qualify for NCAA postseason play in their first season eligible. The Chaps are in the 56-team field of the 2016 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship and join the six-team South Central Region field as one of three at-large bids.
 
No.1-seed Colorado Mesa is hosting the South Central Region tournament at Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colo. The Chaparrals, in their first season of conference and NCAA postseason eligibility, receive the No.6 seed and open play with the tournament's first game Thursday facing host Colorado Mesa (43-11) with a noon (central) first pitch. Joining LCU and CMU in the region field is No.2-seed St. Edward's (43-10), No.3-seed Angelo State (35-20), No.4-seed West Texas A&M (36-18) and No.5-seed Texas A&M-Kingsville (34-17).
 
The Chaps are 35-17 on the season and completed conference play in second place of the Heartland Conference with a 20-7 record. LCU is 5-3 this season against teams in the South Central Region field. The Chaps have never faced Colorado Mesa in program history. LCU had never played on Colorado soil until playing in a series at Colorado State-Pueblo earlier this season and return to the Centennial State to open play against the champions of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. LCU is 8-2 against RMAC programs, 4-3 against Lone Star Conference programs and 22-9 against Heartland teams this season.
 
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION TOURNAMENT SEEDS
1-Colorado Mesa
2-St. Edward's
3-Angelo State
4-West Texas A&M
5-Texas A&M-Kingsville
6-Lubbock Christian
 
RANKINGS
LCU: No.19 (NCBWA), No. 22 (Perfect Game)
 
NCBWA HONORS
The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released their All-Region Teams and LCU was represented with a pair of players on the South Central Region squad, with pitcher Guillaume Blanchette and second baseman Hunter McFall each receiving First Team honors.
 
Saint-Constant, Quebec native Blanchette was named the Heartland Pitcher of the Year after leading the conference in wins with 11 on the season (second nationally). He also leads the Heartland in strikeouts (104, 15th nationally), innings pitched (106), complete games (8, fourth nationally) and shutouts (2). He sits second in the conference (10th nationally) in ERA (1.70). The Chap's senior was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week after dealing a one-hitter in a win over No. 9 Angelo State on Feb. 20. Blanchette was twice named Heartland Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 22 and April 25. Blanchette has also received Heartland Conference Gold Glove Team and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District recipient.
 
McFall leads the team hitting .428 (23rd nationally) and producing 54 RBI (ranks 67th nationally).  The senior infielder ranks 20th nationally with 86 hits. He leads the team with 27 multi-hit games (13 games of at least three hits) and has 15 multi-RBI games. The San Antonio, Texas native hit .481 in conference play, getting hits in 26 of 27 games and reaching base safely in all conference games. The three-time All-Conference selection was a 2015 NCBWA All-Region and 2016 NCBWA Preseason All-Region selection.
 
The honor marks the seventh time an LCU player has received All-Region honors by the NCBWA and the first time multiple players have been recognized since four received the honor in 2014. McFall was LCU's lone NCBWA recipient last season.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE CHAPS
P - Guillaume Blanchette (First Team, Pitcher of the Year)
P - Ricky Contreras (First Team, Freshman of the Year)
2B - Hunter McFall (First Team)
C - JP Rousseau (Second Team)
3B - Brandon Rix (Second Team)

ABOVE AVERAGE
LCU leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 16th nationally batting .333 on the season.  The Chaps have produced at least 10 hits in 35 of 52 games played this season. Two of the top five in batting in the Heartland Conference are members of the Chaps (Hunter McFall .428 ranks second and Brandon Rix .375 ranks fifth). LCU also leads the conference in hits (596), with a mark that ranks 19th nationally.

DOUBLE THE FUN
LCU ranks 17th nationally with 121 doubles this season and ranking 15th with an average of 2.3 per game. Although the Chaps have a high doubles count, they do not have any individuals in to top-100 nationally in doubles. The Chaps have seven players with at least 10 doubles, with Hunter McFall leading the team with 16 on the season.

THE HUNTER
Hunter McFall leads the team hitting .428 (23rd nationally) and producing 54 RBI. The senior infielder ranks 20th nationally with 86 hits. McFall led the Heartland Conference with a mark of .481 at the plate in conference games. He had a .517 on-base percentage in 27 conference games and produced 12 doubles and 25 RBI. In 108 at-bats in conference, McFall struck out five times.
 
CLOSING THE BOOK ON CONFERENCE
The Chaparrals hit .341 in conference games and had a 2.95 staff ERA. Hunter McFall hit .481 in conference games and JP Rousseau is 25-of-57 (.439) in Heartland play as well. McFall (25) led the Chaps in RBI in conference play, as the Chaps had six players with at least 14 RBI in conference play (four with at least 18). Rotation pitchers Guillaume Blanchette (7-1), Russell Reber (4-1) and Ricky Contreras (5-1) combined to go 16-3 in conference games. LCU used 12 different pitchers in conference play and only three had above a 3.60 ERA.
 
TRYING TO BUCK A TREND
LCU heads to Grand Junction, Colo. on a two-game losing streak.  The Chaps have not lost more than two straight games this season.
 
HOMERS
Brent Stewart and Brett Wilhelm co-lead LCU in home runs with six and they are two of 13 Chaps with at least one home run this season. The 13 different Chaps with at least one home run marks the Chaps highest total of home run hitters since they had 14 players with at least one home run during the 2011 season.
 
STREAKS
The Chaps open the South Central Region Tournament with Brandon Rix leading the team with a six-game hit streak and Brendan McCarthy following with a five-game hit streak... Jaime Bustamante enters reaching safely in 17 consecutive games and 13 straight non-conference games. LCU's games against Colorado Mesa will count as road games (instead of neutral site games) and Jesse Pintado leads LCU with a nine-game road hit streak... Hunter McFall has reached safely in 16 straight road games
 
JUST A NEW CHAPTER
Postseason ventures are not uncommon for LCU. The Chaps made 12 national championship postseason appearances in the NAIA (excludes regional appearances, which the NAIA did not constitute as national championship appearances), resulting in 10 NAIA World Series berths and two national titles (1983, 2008). LCU has made national championship postseason appearances in every season they have been eligible since 2008 (six straight seasons).

"K" FACTOR
Chaps pitcher Guillaume Blanchette has 104 strikeouts on the season. The last LCU pitcher to strikeout at least 100 in a season was Tyler Rogers, who had 122 in 2012.

ALL-TIME
Here is a look at LCU's All-Time record against the field:
Angelo State - ASU leads series 9-8
Colorado Mesa - No Prior Meetings
St. Edward's - LCU leads 16-7
Texas A&M Kingsville - TAMUK leads 2-0
West Texas A&M - LCU leads 38-18