2017 DII AIRHOGS CLASSIC
No.6 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (3-0) vs. SOUTHERN ARKANSAS (3-0)
Sunday, February 5 - 4:00 PM                                                      
The Ballpark in Grand Prairie / AirHogs Stadium (Grand Prairie, Texas)
Radio: None
All-Time Series: LCU leads 1-0
Tweet #LCUvsSAU
 
RANKINGS
LCU: No. 6 (Perfect Game), No.20 (NCBWA), No. 39 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper)
SAU: Unranked
 
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
LCU – Russell Reber (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
SAU – TBA (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
 
The only two remaining unbeaten teams at the DII AirHogs Classic in Grand Prairie, Texas will face each other Sunday, as Lubbock Christian and tournament host Southern Arkansas are each 3-0 on the season. LCU has wins over East Central, Missouri Western State and Newman, while SAU has wins over Missouri Western State and Oklahoma Christian.
 
SATURDAY SYNOPSIS
Brandon Rix and Tony Reyes each had three hits and Lubbock Christian University came back from an early 4-0 deficit to defeat Newman University 7-5 in a non-conference game at the DII AirHogs Classic Saturday afternoon.
 
FIRE UP THE RUSS BUS
Russell Reber is scheduled to make his season debut on the mound Sunday. He is coming off a season in which he went 6-1 with a 3.43 ERA. Russell co-led LCU in starts on the mound in 2016 with 16 and in win percentage, with a mark of 85.7% in games a decision was granted towards him (6-1). In 89 innings, he allowed only one home runs and 27 of his 60 strikeouts were caught looking.
   
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SAU
- The Muleriders are coming off a 30-20 season in 2016. They went 4-3 in neutral site games and went 19-14 in the Great American Conference.
- SAU is preseason picked fourth in the GAC Preseason Poll.
- The Muleriders are seeking their 17^th consecutive season of at least 30 wins.
- They return a pair of All-GAC honorees in outfielder Trevor Rucker and starting pitcher Kenneth Tabor. Rucker, a three-time All-GAC performer ranks third among active Division II players with 78 career stolen bases while Tabor went 8-4 with a 3.43 ERA in 2016.
- SAU, hitting .309 in Grand Prairie, has Cory Gallegos leading the team with a .545 batting average.
 
HISTORY WITH SAU
LCU is 1-0 all-time against SAU, with the only prior meeting resulting in a 9-4 LCU win on May 27, 1991.  The prior meeting was in Lewiston, Idaho at the NAIA World Series, as LCU eliminated Southern Arkansas, who was a member of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference.