No.6 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (7-1) at No.8 ANGELO STATE (5-1)
Friday, February 17 - 6:00 PM                                                      
Foster Field (San Angelo, Texas)
Radio: Online only
All-Time Series: ASU leads 10-8
Tweet #LCUvsASU
 
RANKINGS
LCU: No. 6 (Perfect Game), No.20 (NCBWA), No. 39 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper)
ASU: No. 8 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper), No. 21 (Perfect Game), No.24 (NCBWA)
 
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
LCU – Ricky Contreras (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
            - Making his third start of the season. His last outing came last Thursday in the opening game of a four-game series with Adams State and he went six innings of scoreless play with five hits allowed. His last outing of last season came against Angelo State on May 21, 2016 at the NCAA South Central Regional, as he allowed four earned runs off 11 hits in eight innings of work. He struck out six batters in a 6-2 loss. He went 1-1 against ASU last season.
ASU – Matt Shannon (1-0, 3.86 ERA)
            - Shannon will take the mound for a third start this season. His prior two starts have gone at least five innings, including a 6.2 inning appearance against Southeastern Oklahoma State in which he allowed two runs off four hits and struck out six batters (walked four). Opponents are batting .310 against Shannon.
 
Lubbock Christian University heads on the road for their first true road game and first road series, as Friday at 6 p.m. opens a three-game series between a pair of top-10 ranked programs. The Friday-Sunday series will consist of a nine-inning game each day. LCU enters with a 7-1 record and coming off a 14-4 win that wrapped up their home series with Adams State. Angelo State lost their season opener to Regis, but has since won five straight for a 5-1 season record.
 
LOOKING BACK
No.6 Lubbock Christian University scored 10 unanswered runs and claimed the four-game series against Adams State with a 14-4 win Saturday at Hays Field. LCU had all eight of the game's extra-base hits, with Jaime Bustamante hitting a double and a triple to extend his hit streak to eight games. Ryan Rogers led LCU with three (3-for-5) of their 14 hits in the game.
 
HONORED
Lubbock Christian University shortstop Jaime Bustamante has been named the Heartland Conference Baseball Hitter of the Week for games played from Feb. 6 - Feb. 12. Bustamante started all four games last weej and recorded a trio of multi-hit games. Bustamante has now hit safely in each of the Chaps' first eight games this season. He hit .467 on the week (7-for-15) and produced a 1.000 slugging mark with three doubles, a triple and a home run giving him five extra-base. His home run was a bottom of the ninth inning walk-off for a victory Thursday night over ASU. He produced a .550 on-base percentage for the week and racked up eight runs while driving in four himself. This is Bustamante's first player of the week award this season and the first of his LCU career. He is the first Chap baseball player recognized this season. 
 
STREAKS
Bustamante leads the team with an eight-game hit streak. Tony Reyes is not far behind with hits in six consecutive games. Bustamante and Logan Nethercot have reached base safely in all eight games this season.
  
LOOKING AT THE CHAPS
LCU is hitting .310 as a team, with 19 doubles in eight games. Bustamante leads LCU with a .438 mark at the plate with five doubles and two home runs. He co-leads the team in RBI with eight alongside aleb Koedyker and Josh Narvaiz. The Chaps have a staff ERA of 3.33 and have held opponents to a .236 average.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ANGELO STATE
-The Rams are coming off a 39-22 season in 2016. They went 16-6 at home and 25-10 in Lone Star Conference play. The Rams won the South Central Regional Tournament and qualified for the NCAA Division II World Series, where they went 0-2 with a pair of 1-0 losses.
-ASU is picked first in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll.
-Matt Shannon, who is slated to start the opening game on the mound, is the LSC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. He went 7-5 last season with a 2.71 ERA.
-The Rams are hitting .330 with 14 doubles and six homers in six games. Jonathan Soberanes leads ASU with a .500 average with a 6-for-12 performance from the plate on the season. Jonathan is the younger brother of Christian, who was a former member of the LCU baseball team.
-Angelo State has held opponents to a .235 batting average, with a staff ERA of 3.78. They have 45 strikeouts to 19 walks issued.
 
HISTORY WITH ANGELO STATE
Angelo State leads the all-time series with a 10-8 record head-to-head. LCU is 3-7 against ASU away from Hays Field and 3-6 in San Angelo. LCU last played a series in San Angelo during the 2015 season, with the Rams sweeping the series and holding LCU to a combined three runs in the series. LCU's last win at Foster Field was Feb. 17, 2013 (16-7 win). The two teams met four times last season, with LCU winning two-of-three games in a three-game series at Hays Field before meeting in Grand Junction, Colo. on May 21^, 2016 (ASU defeated LCU 6-2).