SAN ANGELO, Texas (May 21, 2017) – No.11 Lubbock Christian University was never able to get their offense to show up at the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament. Facing top-seeded and No.5 Angelo State University, the Chaps were held to four hits and had their season come to an end with a 6-1 loss in an elimination game at Foster Field.
 
In three games in San Angelo, LCU was held to a combined five runs off 14 hits, with seven hits combined in their final two games. The Chaps, entering the tournament hitting .314 as a team, with an average of seven runs and 11 hits a game, hit .156 in the tournament and were held to averages of 1.7 runs and 4.7 hits per game.
 
There were no pushovers of competition for the Chaps in San Angelo. The No.4-seeded Chaparrals were the underdogs in all three games, facing the No.3 (West Texas A&M), No.2 (Colorado Mesa) and No.1 (Angelo State) seeded teams in the tournament.
 
Opposing pitchers were on their game in their prior two games, and it was no different Sunday. Angelo State started pitcher Blake Barr, who went two innings and allowed a run off two hits. Jake Mathys came in to relieve Barr in the third inning and held the Chaps scoreless in seven innings. Mathys allowed two hits and faced two batters over the minimum. He went a stretch of 22 batters in which he allowed one hit and did not allow a hit to the final 12 batters he faced. Mathys claimed his second win in relief against LCU and improved to 8-4 on the season.
 
LCU lone run of the game came with a two-out double hit into the left field corner by Brandon Urquizo in the top of the second inning to cut ASU's lead to 2-1. The Rams had opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with a two-out two-run home run by Jay Gonzalez. Tyler Coolbaugh made it 4-1 for the Rams in the fourth inning with a two-run single with two outs. ASU's Jacob Boston made it 6-1 in the fifth inning with a two-run home run.  Boston's home run was the first batter Brent Bezio faced, as he came out of the bullpen to relieve Russell Reber, who suffered the loss (9-2). Reber went 4.1 innings and allowed five runs (three earned) off nine hits. He had first-pitch-strike against 14 of the first 15 batters he faced.
 
All four Chap hits were by four different individuals, as LCU's Ryan Rogers had LCU's only multi-hit performance at the tournament (Thursday against West Texas A&M). ASU had four players with multiple hits, with Gonzalez and Boston each driving in a pair with their two-hit performances.
 
While ASU prolong's their stay in the tournament (43-14), the loss ended the Chaps season at 38-16. ASU swept the Chaps for the season series (4-0 against LCU… all at Foster Field) and improved to 2-0 against LCU in NCAA postseason play.
 
The loss brought an end of the LCU careers of 12 senior members. Eight of LCU's nine batters in the starting lineup were seniors and three of the four pitchers that appeared Sunday were seniors. The senior class will be remembered for introducing LCU to NCAA postseason play. None of the seniors were on roster prior to last season (2016), which was LCU's first season with NCAA postseason eligibility.  Coming off a 2015 season in which LCU went 23-25, the Chaps have gone a combined 75-34 since and have made a NCAA South Central Regional appearance in each season eligible (2016 and 2017). Included in the success was a Heartland Conference regular season championship title this season. LCU has made a national championship postseason appearance in each season they have been eligible since 2008 (seven consecutive seasons).
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
0-for-14 | LCU's 4-7-hole hitters in the lineup went a combined 0-for-14 Sunday.
.286 | Ryan Rogers led LCU in the tournament at the plate, going 2-for-7 (.286) with four walks for a .500 on-base percentage.
2 | LCU was held to two hits in the tournament with runners in scoring position (2-for-20, .100), but also held the opposition to two hits with runners in scoring position (2-for-17, .118).
3 | Brandon Rix led LCU in the tournament in hits with three. He had a hit in each of the three games.
15-3 | Pitcher Russell Reber is LCU's only senior in their primary three-man rotation. He closes his LCU career with a 15-3 pitching record.
38 | LCU's 38 wins was the most since the 2014 season (39).