ST. MARY'S (12-11, 6-0) at No.16 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (18-8, 2-1)
Friday, March 24, 2017 – 3:00 PM
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: Series Tied 12-12
Tweet #LCUvsStMU | Tweet #HeartlandBase
 
Lubbock Christian University plays their first Heartland Conference series at home this season, hosting St. Mary's University for a three-game series and it marks the second time the two teams have met for a three-game set. The two teams were scheduled for a four-game non-conference series, but Mother Nature assisted in moving the series (Mar. 3-5) to a three-game series (LCU won all three games in San Antonio). Mother Nature is playing a role in this series as well, as the two teams agreed to move the series to playing a single game on Friday and a doubleheader Saturday due to high winds (gusts over 50 MPH forecasted) expected Friday.  

RANKINGS (as of 3/20/17)
LCU: No. 16 (Perfect Game), No. 23 (d2baseballnews.com), No.25 (NCBWA)
StMU: Unranked

PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
 
LCU – Ricky Contreras (3-0, 2.91 ERA)
Right handed pitcher Ricky Contreras is scheduled for his eighth start of the season. He is 3-0 on the season, with the three wins coming in the last three starts. In his last start (at Tarleton State Friday), He registered the win and struck out a career high 11 batters. Contreras is 1-0 this season against St. Mary's, as he went eight innings on Mar. 3 and allowed one unearned run off four hits. He has allowed two earned runs over 18 innings in three career appearances against StMU.
 
StMU – Holden Grounds (3-2, 1.93 ERA)
Virginia transfer Holden Grounds is set to make his eighth start of the 2017 campaign. Grounds leads the StMU staff with a 1.93 ERA and is coming off a seven inning start against Oklahoma Christian in which he allowed one run off three hits in seven innings. He started on the hill against LCU (Mar. 3) and went seven innings and allowed six hits. Grounds gave up one run and did not receive a decision.  
 
LOOKING BACK
No.16 Lubbock Christian University produced 24 singles leading to a 22-0 non-conference win over University of the Southwest (N.M.) Tuesday night at Hays Field. The 22-0 victory matched the Chaps second biggest margin of victory in a shutout win, matching a 22-0 victory over Iowa Wesleyan on Mar. 28, 1980. The largest shutout win in program history was a 25-0 win over College of Santa Fe on Mar. 17, 2009.

STREAKS
Ryan Rogers is the second player to have at least a 10-game hit streak, and his active hit streak of 10 games leads the squad. Brandon Rix, who has an active eight-game hit streak, leads the team with an active streak of reaching base safely at 19 games.  Rogers has reached safely in his last 13 games.
 
SAC-IT TO ME
LCU leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 13th nationally in sacrifice flies with 15 on the season. Nine different Chaps have at least one sac-fly on the season, with Jaime Bustamante leading the team with four (14th nationally).
 
TRIPLES
The Chaps rank third in the nation this season in triples, with 14 on the season. Nine different Chaps have produced a triple this season and Josh Narvaiz ranks tied for 25th nationally with three produced.
 
BUSTED
Jaime Bustamante helped LCU to a 2-1 series win at Tarleton State hitting .53 (7-for-12) in the series with a double and home run for four RBI. He opened the series with a 2-for-4 performance and capped it with a 4-for-5 performance, which included two runs and three RBI. Bustamante also produced three runs and a .917 slugging mark on the week. In situations, Bustamante went 5-for-5 (1.000) with runners on base, 1-for-1 with two outs, 1-for-1 scoring the runner from third base with less than two outs and 7-for-7 advancing runners.
 
CHAPS BY THE NUMBERS
0.4 | Ryan Rogers leads the Heartland Conference with a rate of 0.4 doubles per game.
3 | Russell Reber co-leads the Heartland Conference with three complete games, ranking tied for seventh nationally.
6 | With six victories (6-0), Russell Reber ranks tied for second nationally and is behind Austin Hutchison (Mt. Olive) and Thomas St. Clair (Lenoir-Rhyne).
30 | Jaime Bustamante leads the Heartland Conference (30) in runs. He has averaged three runs in each of the last three series played.
18 | Logan Nethercot leads the Heartland and leads the conference with 18 walks. He reaches at a pace of 0.9 per game, ranking 76th nationally and leads the conference.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH ST.MARY'S
0-for-10 | In the three-game series in San Antonio, the two teams combined to go 0-for-10 with the bases loaded, with LCU going 0-for-9.
.174 | LCU's pitchers held StMU to a .174 batting average in the series.
.455 | Chase Simmons led LCU in the three games, combining to go 5-for-11 at the plate.
.545 | Jack Kaiser led StMU in the three-game series going 6-for-11.
4 | St. Mary's was limited to four at-bats Sunday with runners in scoring position in the third game of the prior series.
5-4 | LCU swept the series despite StMU having a 5-4 edge in extra-base hits.
10-2 | LCU had a 10-2 advantage in the series in hits with runners in scoring position.
 
HISTORY WITH ST.MARY'S
LCU and St. Mary's have met 24 prior times dating back to 1978 and the all-time series is tied 12-12. LCU leads this season's series 3-0. Prior to 2014, the two teams had not met since Feb. 5, 2000. LCU is 6-4 all-time against StMU at Hays Field. LCU went 2-2 against StMU last season, winning two of three games of a Heartland Conference series in Lubbock. St. Mary's defeated LCU at the Heartland Conference Tournament last season.