2017 HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
ST. EDWARD'S (30-18, 14-10, No.4-Seed) vs No.9 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (36-12, 19-5, No.1-Seed)
Thursday, May 11 – 1 p.m.
The Depot at Cleburne Station (Cleburne, Texas)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm
All-Time Series: All-Time Series: LCU leads 18-9
Tweet #LCUvsSEU | Tweet #HeartlandBASE
 
No.9 Lubbock Christian University is one of four teams preparing for the Heartland Conference's first neutral site conference tournament and the top-seeded Chaparrals are hoping the new trend leads to new results.
 
The Chaps are making their second ever appearance at the Heartland Conference Tournament (second season of NCAA and Heartland Conference postseason eligibility) and looking for their first ever win at the tournament. Last season, LCU fell 4-1 to Oklahoma Christian and 3-2 to St. Mary's, leading to an early exit in Belton, Texas (St. Edward's hosted).
 
LCU opens the 2017 tournament facing No.4-seed St. Edward's. The game will mark the first game at The Depot at Cleburne Station. The newly built stadium features 1,750 fixed seats and is the home for the Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association of Independent Baseball. The four-team field of the double elimination tournament also includes No.2-seed Arkansas Fort Smith and No.3-seed St. Mary's.
 
The Chaps are 9-3 against this season's field.
 
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SEEDS
1-Lubbock Christian
2-Arkansas Fort Smith
3-St. Mary's
4-St. Edward's
 
RANKINGS (as of 5/10/17)
LCU: No. 9 (Perfect Game), No.16 (Collegiate Baseball News), No.18 (NCBWA),  No. 20 (d2baseballnews.com)
 
IN THE REGION
The NCAA released their third regional rankings of the season and LCU, who is playing in their second season postseason eligible, remained at No.3 in the South Central Region Poll. The top six teams in the final region poll will advance to the South Central Region Tournament as part of the NCAA Championships, with hosting privileges for the No.1 ranked team.
 
1. Angelo St.
2. Colorado Mesa       
3. Lubbock Christian  
4. West Tex. A&M      
5. Tex. A&M-Kingsville           
6. Ark.-Fort Smith
7. Tarleton St. 
8. St. Edward's          
 
EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Eight different members of Lubbock Christian Univeristy's baseball team claimed All-Heartland Conference Honors, headlined by Ricky Contreras claiming Pitcher of the Year honors and Nathan Blackwood nailing down Coach of the Year accolades. Contreras was named on the First Team alongside teammates Daniel Crooks (pitcher), Tony Reyes (first base), Brandon Rix (third base), Jaime Bustamante (shortstop), Caleb Koedyker (outfield) and Ryan Rogers (designated hitter). Russell Reber claimed Second Team honors. The Heartland Conference also announced their All-Defensive Team, which included LCU members Josh Narvaiz (second base), Chase Simmons (catcher), Reber (pitcher), Reyes (first base) and Bustamante (shortstop)
 
Contreras, a sophomore pitcher, is 9-1 on the season with a 2.32 ERA. He has made 14 starts (co-leads the conference and ranks tied for seventh nationally), with six going the distance to rank 12th nationally in complete games. The Lubbock, Texas native co-leads the conference and ranks tied for 16th nationally in victories on the mound with nine. His 2.32 ERA ranks second in the conference and he has an 8.3 rate of hits allowed per nine innings (ranks fifth in the conference). The is the second First Team honor for last season's Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year. It marks the second consecutive season an LCU pitcher receives Pitcher of the Year honors, as Guillaume Blanchette received the accolade last season.
 
Blackwood receives his first Heartland Conference Coach of the Year honor. The three-time Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year recipient, claims his overall fourth Coach of the Year honor and his first since the 2010 season. Blackwood, in his 14th season, is 587-228 (.720) in his LCU coaching career.
 
Crooks, a native of Midland, Texas, claims his first postseason honor with the Chaps. He supports a 3.13 ERA with an 8-1 record. The junior ranks second in the conference in hits allowed per nine innings (6.7) and in strikeouts with a team-leading 88. He leads the conference in strikeouts per nine innings with a rate of 10.2. Crooks also ranks third in the conference in WHIP (1.15).
 
Reyes was recognized for his work at the plate and on the field. The Levelland, Texas product leads the Chaps in hits (72, which also leads the conference), with 14 doubles (10th in the conference) and 32 runs-batted-in. He ranks second on the squad in batting with a mark of .367 (fifth in the conference) this season. Defensively, Reyes claimed his second consecutive All-Defensive Team honor (has only two errors on the season). He is the only active player to be recognized in multiple seasons on the All-Defensive Team.
 
Rix, who was named CoSIDA Academic All-District earlier in the week, claims his second All-Conference honor (Second Team last season). The third baseman from Cañon City, Colo. is hitting .341 this season with 63 hits and 31 RBI. He ranks fifth in the conference in sacrifice bunts (6) and his 63 hits ranks ninth.
 
Bustamante, LCU's primary leadoff batter, is hitting .348 on the squad this season with 69 hits and 33 RBI. His 69 hits ranks third in the conference. The Presidio, Texas native also ranks second in the conference in triples (6, which ranks tied for 11th nationally), fourth in runs (48) and fifth in total bases with 103. This is Bustamante's first Heartland Conference All-Conference selection. He also claimed All-Defensive Team honors with a .940 fielding percentage.
 
Koedyker transferred to LCU this season from Texas at Arlington (UTA) for his senior season and hit .318 with 54 hits. Of the 54 hits, 25 were for extra bases with 13 doubles, five triples and a team-leading seven home runs. The Seminole, Texas native leads LCU with a .576 slugging mark.
 
Rogers claims his first All-Conference selection. The junior from Littlefield, Texas leads LCU with a .368 hitting mark on the season, which is third in the conference. He leads the team with 17 doubles (second in the conference) and 44 RBI (fifth in conference).
 
Reber received his first All-Conference honor. The Boise, Idaho native co-leads the conference in games started (14) and wins (9). He is 9-1 with a 3.84 ERA and three complete games. Reber ranks seventh in the conference in walks allowed per nine innings (1.8) and 10th in WHIP (1.22). He also earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team.
 
Simmons and Narvaiz helped LCU lead the conference in fielding (.971) with a mark ranking 13th in the nation. Simmons has helped LCU throw out 18 runners attempting stolen bases and has a .994 field mark with two errors. Second baseman Narvaiz has a .986 fielding percentage and has three errors in 46 games.
 
CLOSING THE BOOK ON CONFERENCE
The Chaparrals hit .345 in conference games and had a 3.77 staff ERA. Ryan Rogers hit .391 in conference games, while teammates Caleb Koedyker (.375) and Brent Stewart (.354) and hit over .350 in conference.  Nine Chaps had at least 14 RBI in conference, with Koedyker and Rogers co-leading the club with 22 RBI. Rotation pitchers Daniel Crooks (5-0), Russell Reber (4-1) and Ricky Contreras (7-1) combined to go 16-2 in conference games. Contreras had five of his six complete games in conference play.
 
NEUTRALIZING
Thursday's game will mark LCU's fifth neutral site game of the season. The Chaps are 4-0 in neutral site games and all four games were in the season opening weekend; at the 2017 AirHogs Classic in Grand Prairie, Texas.
 
STREAKS
Jaime Bustamante leads LCU into the tournament with a seven-game hit. The longest hit streak of the season was an 18-game streak by Tony Reyes. Bustamante's seven-game streak also has him as the active leader in consecutive games reaching base safely. Brandon Rix has the season's longest streak of reaching base safely at 29.
 
CHAPS BY THE NUMBERS
.323 | LCU leads the Heartland in hitting (.323) with a mark ranking 25th nationally.
.737 | LCU's Brent Stewart went 14-for-19 at the plate over his last six home games. He has had at least one hit in 12 of the last 15 games overall.
.917 | The Chaps fielding percentage of .917 leads the conference and ranks 13th nationally.
25 | LCU co-leads the Heartland Conference (with Arkansas Fort Smith) and ranks tied for third nationally in triples with 25.
72 | Tony Reyes leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 48th nationally in hits with 72.
535 | With 535 hits this season, LCU leads the conference and ranks 23rd nationally in the category.
 
SERIES BY THE NUMBERS
.667 | William Hairston is 8-for-12 (.667) at the plate to lead SEU in the season series.
.543 | Brandon Urquizo is 6-for-11 (.543) in the series and co-leada LCU with five RBI in the season series. He has produced an on-base percentage of .583.
.425 | Both teams are 17-of-40 (.425) in the series with runners in scoring position.
3-for-4 | LCU is 3-for-4 as a team in bases loaded at-bats against SEU.
6 | Five Chaps have six hits in the series.
6-for-8 | Ryan Rogers is 6-for-8 getting aboard in a leadoff at-bat during the series.
7 | SEU's Jacob Vasquez leads the team in the series with seven RBI.
9 | The two teams have combined for nine home runs in the series, with seven hit by SEU. LCU had not allowed a home run at home prior to their season series. All nine home runs in the series were hit over the left field wall. Eight home runs were hit in the opening two games (a Friday doubleheader), as there was a 20 MPH wind blowing out to left field.
44 | Each team has 44 hits in the series. LCU has a .407 to .396 edge in batting average in the series.  
66 | The two teams have combined for 66 runs in the series this season, with LCU averaging 10.3 runs and SEU averaging 12 runs per game.
 
HISTORY WITH SEU
LCU leads the all-time series with an advantage of 18-9 dating back to 1986. The Chaps are 10-5 all-time away from Hays Field against the 'Toppers. The two teams split last season's series, with LCU winning two of three games in Austin in their regular season series before SEU eliminated the Chaps with a win at the NCAA South Central Region Tournament in Grand Junction, Colo. The two teams have never met in a Heartland Conference Tournament game.