AUSTIN, Texas (April 27, 2018) – The struggle away from home has been a looming presence for Lubbock Christian University who dropped a pair of games at the hands of St. Edward's University Friday afternoon in Austin, Texas. The Chaparrals were limited to six runs on 14 hits on the day compared to the Hilltoppers combined 20 runs on 22 hits. Ricky Contreras was charged with Lubbock Christian's 8-0 shutout loss in game one while Callan Johnson was credited with the 12-6 loss in game two.
 
LCU was unable to gain any momentum in the series opener as the Chaps combined for four hits on 25 appearances at the plate. Keaton Greenwalt, Braden Hayward, Andres Negron and Logan Nethercot provided the only offense for Lubbock Christian with all four of their hits failing to go for extra bases.
 
St. Edward's opening game seemed to lie on the opposite end of the spectrum from the Chaparrals with the Hilltoppers beginning the day with a RBI double from Blake Holub in the bottom of the first inning. SEU was able to strike once again in the bottom of the third on back-to-back batters with a sacrifice fly that resulted in the second RBI of the contest for the Hilltoppers. The Chaps made matters worse for themselves on the following play as Hayward committed the game's only error for LCU, allowing William Hairston to turn a single into an extra base for the Hilltoppers. Dylan Mackin then capitalized on the Chaparral error for an unearned run to put the score at 3-0.
 
TJ Giselbach put game one out of reach for the St. Edward's squad with a grand slam over the left field wall in the bottom of the fifth inning. Three plays later, with the Hilltoppers up 7-0 and runners on the corners, Matthew Jimenez turned a 2-2 count into a RBI single for SEU's final run of the opening game.
 
With it being a four-game series, game one concluded after seven innings of play. Contreras dealt out seven strikeouts on 133 pitches and 32 batters faced, conceding eight runs (seven earned) for Lubbock Christian. The loss dropped Contreras to a 6-4 record on the year.
 
Game two began in a similar fashion for LCU as St. Edward's opened up the contest jumping to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Hayward opened up the second inning by providing a sacrifice fly to right field moving James Hardberger home for the Chaparrals first run of the series. Scotland Church was able to continue that momentum with a three-run shot out of left field tying the ball game up at 4-4. Andrew Pratt provided Lubbock Christian with their first and only lead of the day, at 5-4, making the most out of a fielding error by the Hilltopper defense.
 
The advantage was short lived for the Chaps as SEU tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the second inning on a three-run home run from Giselbach. Negron was able to bring Hardberger home in the top of the third with a single to left center field. The Hilltoppers responded quickly with a pair of runs from Jimenez and Mackin in the bottom of the inning putting St. Edward's up 9-6.
 
Both teams remained scoreless over the next two innings until the Hilltoppers put their final stamp on the game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
 
LCU employed the help of four pitchers in the 12-6 game two defeat to the Hilltoppers. Johnson was credited with the loss after pitching for 2.2 innings and giving up nine runs (all earned) on seven hits.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Lubbock Christian's back to back losses not only marks their second consecutive series beginning with an 0-2 record, it also serves as their first shutout loss since in 20 contests. The last team to shutout the Chaparrals were the Hilltoppers with a 1-0 result in game two of a double header (3/17/18).