No.6 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (7-3) at No.24 WEST TEXAS A&M (7-1)
Tuesday, February 21 - 5:00 PM                                                      
Wilder Park (Canyon, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: LCU leads 29-18
Tweet #LCUvsWT
 
IN THE BOX
Lubbock Christian University faces a fourth straight road game and a fourth consecutive game against a ranked opponent and looking to end a three-game losing skid. The Chaps are 0-3 in road games after suffering a three-game sweep at No.8 Angelo State over the weekend. Two of LCU's losses were one-run losses in which LCU led following the top of the eighth inning in both of the games.
 
RANKINGS (as of 2/20/17)
LCU: No. 6 (Perfect Game), No. 14 (d2baseballnews.com), No.20 (NCBWA), No. 39 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper)
WT: No.24 (d2baseballnews.com)
 
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
LCU – Daniel Crooks (1-1, 7.30 ERA)
            - Daniel will make his third start of the season and his fourth appearance after a 2.2 inning relief appearance at Angelo State Saturday (allowed two runs off four hits and struck out four batters). Crooks has 15 strikeouts in 12.1 innings, but has also walked 14 and allowed a .279 batting average from the opposition.
 
WT – Marshall Kasowski (2-0, 0.00 ERA)
            - Marshall has yet to yield a run in 13 innings and is scheduled for his second start of the season (third appearance overall). He has 23 strikeouts in 13 innings and registered 14 in his last start (Feb. 9 vs. Northwestern Okla. St.). WT has outscored opponents 24-1 in games he has started.
 
LOOKING BACK
No.6 Angelo State used another comeback in the series, this time with a two-run eighth inning, to defeat No.8 Lubbock Christian University 4-3 and completing a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon at Foster Field. Brandon Urquizo led LCU in the game at the pate with a 2-for-4 performance with a pair of RBI.
 
STREAKS
Tony Reyes leads the team with a nine-game hit streak. Logan Nethercot, who has hits in his last seven games, has reached base safely in all 11 games this season. Reyes is next on the list with reaching base safely in the last nine games.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WT
-The Buffs are coming off a 36-20 season in 2016. They went 22-7 at home and 22-14 in Lone Star Conference play. WT qualified for the South Central Regional Tournament and was eliminated by Lubbock Christian.
-WT is picked third in the Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll.
-The Buffs are 9-0 this season and off to their best start in program history. Nine wins in a row is fifth-best in program history as 13-straight wins in 1997 is the program record.
-WT is hitting .416 on the year.  They have produced 32 doubles, six triples and 16 home runs, while driving in 120.  The Buffs are slugging .708 for the year and reaching base at a .497 rate.
-Individually, Arron Vallance leads all players that have appeared in all nine games with a .552 (16-for-29) batting average. Nelson Paredes has appeared in five games and is hitting .600 (6-for-10). Vallance has one double, a homer and seven RBI.  He has scored a team-high 18 runs and is 5-of-5 in stolen bases. The Buffs have a 1.88 ERA on the season.
 
HISTORY WITH WT
LCU has a 39-18 series advantage all-time against WT, which dates back to 1971. The Chaps have won 11 of the last 15 meetings. LCU is 15-7 all-time away from Hays Field against WT. Last season, the Chaps went 2-1 against the Buffs. The two teams split the home-and-home series (home team won each game) and LCU won the postseason meeting 4-2 in Grand Junction, Colo. (May 20, 2016). In last season's season series, LCU won 13-3 (Feb. 9, 2016) in Lubbock and WT won 7-6 (Apr. 12, 2016) in a 15-inning contest in Canyon, Texas.