UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTHWEST (17-12) at No.16 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (17-8)
Tuesday, March 20, 2017 – 6:00 PM
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: LCU leads 71-25
Tweet #LCUvsUSW
 
IN THE BOX
The Chaps are back home!  After playing their last 10 games on the road (went 8-2 on the swing), LCU returns home to host University of the Southwest (N.M.) for their first home game since Feb. 26. Tuesday's tilt is the first of four games at home on the week, as LCU will follow Tuesday's game with a three-game Heartland Conference series with St. Mary's at Hays Field.
 
RANKINGS (as of 3/20/17)
LCU: No. 16 (Perfect Game), No. 23 (d2baseballnews.com),
USW: Unranked
 
PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
 
LCU – Brent Bezio (1-2, 4.63 ERA)
Brent Bezio is scheduled to make his first start of the season and his eighth start as a member of the Chaps. He has made seven appearances this season in relief, with two of the appearances of at least three innings pitched. He has not allowed a run in his last three non-conference appearances.
 
USW – Shaun Bowler (0-0, 6.23 ERA)
Scheduled to start for the Mustangs is Shaun Bowler, who will be making his first start of the season. He has made two relief outings on the season, with his last coming Feb. 22 against New Mexico Highlands.
  
LOOKING BACK AT SATURDAY
Jaime Bustamante went 4-for-5 with a home run and three runs-batted-in and No.16 Lubbock Christian University produced 16 hits en route to a 6-4 win over Tarleton State University to claim the rubber match of their non-conference tilt Saturday afternoon at Cecil Ballow Complex.
 
CROOKS TAKES HEARTLAND HONOR
Lubbock Christian University's Daniel Crooks has been named the Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Week for games played from Mar. 13 - Mar. 19. Crooks went seven innings in a road start at Tarleton State and allowed one run off two hits. The junior from Midland, Texas opened the game perfect with 4.1 innings of no-hit ball. Crooks faced two batters over the minimum in seven innings and recorded eight strikeouts. Tarleton was held to one at-bat with runners in scoring position and was unable to get the leadoff batter aboard over the course of Crooks' seven innings pitched. This is Crooks' first weekly honor and the first Chaps pitcher to be recognized this season 
 
STREAKS
Ryan Rogers leads the Chaps with an active hit streak of nine games, with Brandon Rix not far behind with a seven-game hit streak. Rix has reached base successfully in 18 straight games.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT USW
-The Mustangs are 17-12 on the season, riding a four-game win streak and have gone 11-2 over the last 13 games.
-USW is a member of the NAIA's Red River Athletic Conference.
-Southwest ranks second in the NAIA with 18 triples on the season, with Isiah Peters leading the NAIA with seven.
-They are hitting .294 as a team and have a team ERA of 6.12.
-The Mustangs have five players with at least 21 hits on the season, led by Peters, who has 35 hits.
 
HISTORY WITH USW
Lubbock Christian and USW have not met since a 9-3 LCU win in Midland, Texas on Mar. 4, 2014. LCU is 72-25 all-time against USW and 37-13 at home against the Mustangs.