LUBBOCK, Texas (March 25, 2017) – Ryan Rogers (six hits) and Chase Simmons (five hits) combined for 11 hits on the day, as the two helped No.16 Lubbock Christian University defeat St. Mary's University 8-5 and 12-7 Saturday afternoon at Hays Field to complete a three-game Heartland Conference series sweep and a six-game regular season series sweep.
 
In the opener, LCU needed four unanswered runs to garner the 8-5 win to clinch the Heartland Conference series. The two teams were tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning until Brandon Urquizo drove in a pair of runs with a triple, which also led to him scoring on a Brent Stewart sacrifice fly for a 4-1 lead.
 
The Rattlers took advantage of two LCU errors in the fifth inning and produced four hits, which led to a four-run inning and StMU took a 5-4 lead. In the home half of the fifth inning, Rogers singled and Simmons followed with a double to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Both scored when Caleb Koedyker reached on a infield single and a throwing error for a 6-5 LCU lead. Jaime Bustamante doubled down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning and eventually scored on a throwing error to extend the LCU lead to 7-5. Their final run came across later in the inning with Koedyker walking with the bases loaded.
 
Rogers went 4-for-4 and Simmons was 3-for-4 for LCU. Koedyker and Urquizo each drove in a pair of runs. Donnie Perez (2-for-3) and James Gillean (2-for-4) co-led StMU with two hits each.
 
Daniel Crooks started on the hill for LCU and went 4.2 innings, but went without a decision. Brent Bezio claimed the win (3-2) in relief, going 1.1 innings and retiring all four batters faced. Christian Marquez pitched the seventh inning to claim the save (2). Chris Jones suffered the loss (2-2) for StMU, allowing six runs (five earned) off 10 hits in 4.1 innings.
 
The two teams combined for nine runs in the first inning of the second game. The first five batters for StMU singled in the first inning and the Rattlers completed the inning with five runs off six hits. The Chaps answered in the bottom of the first inning with five hits leading to five runs for a 5-4 lead. Rogers drove in two of the five runs with a double to centerfield. LCU followed with a three-run fourth inning and three-run sixth inning to lead 11-5. Tony Reyesdrove in two of the runs in the fourth inning and Rogers drove in a pair in the sixth inning. Koedyker tripled in the seventh inning and scored on a sacrifice fly to lead 12-5. StMU closed the game's scoring by taking advantage of four walks issued with a pair of runs in the eighth inning.
 
Russell Reber was the first of six pitchers used by LCU. He went five innings and allowed five runs off 10 hits. He improved to 7-0 with the win. Hayden Hibler started for StMU and was pulled after 3.1 innings. He allowed eight runs off nine hits and fell to 2-2.
 
Six Chaps had multi-hit performances, led by Tony Reyes, who went 3-for-5 at the plate. Reyes had two doubles, as LCU had seven extra-base hits (six doubles and a triple). Rogers led all Chaps in RBI with four off a 2-for-5 performance at the plate. Jack Kaiser (3-for-5) and Jacob Aguilar (3-for-4) each co-led StMU with three hits.
 
LCU went 3-0 in the three-game series and 6-0 in the regular season series against the Rattlers. The wins Saturday placed LCU with a 21-8 overall record and a 5-1 Heartland Conference record. StMU fell to 12-14 overall and 6-3 in conference. LCU takes a five-game win streak on the road Friday, heading to Laredo, Texas to open a three-game series with Texas A&M International.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1 | LCU scored 20 runs Saturday, but ony one was off a two-out RBI.
.579 | Ryan Rogers led LCU in the six-game season series with StMU, going 11-for-19 at the plate with seven RBI.
.600 | LCU was 12-of-20 (.600) on Saturday with runners in scoring position, going 7-of-10 in the second game.
6 | Six different pitchers pitched for LCU that did not allow a run.
7-for-7 | In the second game Saturday, LCU was 7-for-7 on getting home the runner from third base with less than two outs. They were 10-for-11 on the day.
8 | Ryan Rogers (8-for-11) and Chase Simmons (8-for-12) each co-led LCU with eight hits in the three-game series.
11-2 | Saturday, LCU had an 11-2 advantage in extra-base hits, with seven doubles and two triples. LCU held a 15-3 advantage in the category for the three-game series.
53 | LCU scored 53 runs in their four-game homestand for an average of 13.3 runs per game.