No.10 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (7-4)
at ADAMS STATE (0-10)
Thursday, Mar. 1, 2018 – 3 p.m. (Central)
ASU Baseball Field (Alamosa, Colo.)
Radio: None
All-Time Series: LCU leads 14-5
Tweet #LCUvsASU
 
No.10 Lubbock Christian University, sitting with an identical 11-game start as last season (7-4), hits the road for the first time this season and they take with them a six-game win streak. The Chaps are opening up a three-game series with a winless Adams State (0-10) squad, who has played nine of their 10 games away from home.
 
RANKINGS 
LCU: No.10 (Perfect Game), No.32 (Collegiate Baseball News)
ADAMS: N/A
 
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHER
 
LCU – Callan Johnson (2-0, 1.38 ERA)
The right-handed pitcher from Idalou, Texas is scheduled for his third start of the season.  He has claimed the win in each of his prior two starts, including a six-inning performance against No.20 Angelo State in which he allowed two runs off two hits in his last start (Feb. 19). Overall, he has allowed four hits in 13 innings for an opponent batting average of .095. He has a pace of 2.8 hits allowed per nine innings, which leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 17^th nationally.
 
ADAMS – Adam Molina (0-2, 10.38 ERA)
The Albuquerque, New Mexico native is the second straight southpaw to start against the Chaps. Molina will make his third start of the season (fourth appearance) and seeking his first win after allowing six runs off six hits in 3.1 innings on Feb. 24 in his prior start (at Tarleton State). On Feb. 10, 2017, Molina faced the Chaps for two innings and allowed one run off four hits in a 13-5 loss to LCU.
 
LOOKING BACK
A nine-run first inning set the blow-out tone Saturday afternoon at Hays Field, as LCU produced four home runs, with two by Braden Hayward, and completed their first four-game sweep since April of 2013 with a 21-1 victory over Metropolitan State University of Denver for LCU's sixth consecutive win.
  
STREAKS
Despite the high scoring 21-1 LCU win Saturday, Logan Nethercot had his team leading seven-game hit streak come to an end. He has continued to reach base and has reached base safely in all 11 games this season. Surprisingly, even though Nethercot has accomplished the feat and leads the team in walks (seven), he is third on the squad in on-base percentage (.400) behind Will Clark (.452) and James Hardberger (.412). Braden Hayward has the team active hit-streak leader, with hits in five consecutive games. He is 8-for-17 (.470) with a trio of homers over the span.
 
AWARDING WEEK (FOR RYAN)
Lubbock Christian University's duo of Ryan Johnson and Ryan Rogers were named the Heartland Baseball Players of the Week for games scheduled from Feb. 19 - Feb. 25.  Johnson was named Pitcher of the Week, as Rogers received Co-Hitter of the Week honors.
 
Rogers slugged 1.000 on the week, with one double and two home runs leading to 10 RBI. Rogers produced a grand slam Friday and the slam was Rogers' fourth career home run and his second career home run at Hays Field. It was the first grand slam by a Chap since Dillon Drury hit one at Wayland Baptist on Mar. 22, 2016. He added to it Saturday in his first at-bat with a three-run homer to jumpstart a nine-run first inning for the Chaps. The Littlefield, Texas native also added seven runs on the week. This is Rogers' first weekly honor this season and the second of his career (Mar. 27, 2017).
 
Johnson took the spotlight in the opening game of Friday's doubleheader with Metro State, tossing a complete game one-hit shutout. He faced three batters over the minimum, with three free passes offered to Roadrunners batters. Hunter Donaldson broke up the no-hit bid in the seventh inning with one out, as Johnson was two outs away from LCU's first no-hitter since Feb. 1, 2008. The last complete game one-hitter by a Chaps pitcher happened on Feb. 20, 2016, by Guillaume Blanchette, against Angelo State. This is Johnson's first pitcher of the week award, and the third straight pitcher of the week award collected by Lubbock Christian (Callan Johnson and Chandler Casey). Johnson also claimed NCBWA South Central Region Pitcher of the Week.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
LCU went 14-9 last season on the road. Tony Reyes led LCU at the plate with a .326 average on the road. Ryan Rogers and Caleb Koedyker co-led the team with 17 RBI. LCU hit .269 on the road and produced a staff ERA of 3.35. Last season's primary starting pitching rotation of Russell Reber (4-1), Daniel Crooks (3-0) and Ricky Contreras (5-1) combined for a 12-2 road record. Reagan Lucia made six bullpen appearances on the road last season, going 1-0 and has not allowed a hit in 3.2 innings. LCU has dropped their road openers the prior three seasons, with an 18-8 win over New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, N.M. on Feb. 9, 2014 marking their last win in a road opener (non-neutral game).
 
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
LCU went 2-2 in Pueblo, Colo. during the 2016 season, marking LCU's only prior games played in Colorado. The Chaps have three players from the Rocky Mountain State, matching New Mexico as the state outside of Texas, which has produced the most players on the 2018 Chaps roster. Will Clark (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Logan Nethercot (Cañon City, Colo.) and Dillon Drury (Colorado City, Colo.) all call Colorado home.
 
PITCH PERFECT
The Chaps pitching staff has produced two shutouts this season, ranking them tied for fifth nationally. LCU ranks 16^th nationally in ERA (2.60), which is incredible considering all their games have been played at traditionally hitter friendly Hays Field. They have also produced a 1.10 WHIP, which ranks 10^th nationally, with Ryan Johnson's WHIP of 0.55 ranking 13^th nationally. LCU's pitching on the back-end is also showing up on the NCAA statistical charts, as Nick Hooper's three saves ranks tied for sixth nationally (leads the Heartland Conference).
 
FIVE THINGS ABOUT ADAMS
- The Grizzlies are coming off a 13-33 season in 2017. They went 5-11 at home and 6-8 in non-conference play.
- Adams St. finished the 2017 season in ninth place of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 7-25 conference record. They are preseason picked ninth in the RMAC this season.
- ASU have not played a non-conference home game the past two seasons. Their last non-conference home game was against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Mar. 17, 2015 (17-4 ASU win), which is also their only non-conference home game over their last five seasons.
- Tyson Zanski leads ASU this season at the plate, hitting .483 with 14 hits (next closest on the team is eight hits). He has five multi-hit games this season. The .483 average is joined by a .828 slugging mark and a .543 on-base percentage to lead the RMAC in all three categories.
- It has been a tough start through 10 games this season. They have been outscored 92-23 on the season. They have been held to two runs or less in six of their 10 games.
 
HISTORY WITH ADAMS
LCU leads the all-time series with a 14-5 mark (1-1 away from Hays Field) and the series dates back to 1974. The teams are meeting for a fifth consecutive season, but for the first time during the sequence in which the games are not opening LCU's home schedule. In 2014, the two teams agreed to a tripleheader, marking the last time LCU has played a tripleheader.