No.19 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (28-16, 13-9)
at ST. EDWARD'S (25-18, 13-9)
Saturday, Apr. 28, 2018 – 12 p.m. / 2 p.m. (DH)
Lucian-Hamilton Field (Austin, Texas)
Radio: KTTU Double-T 97.3 FM
All-Time Series: LCU leads 20-14
Tweet #LCUvsSEU | Tweet #HeartlandBASE
 
No.19 Lubbock Christian University completes their eight-game road trip and closes out their regular season road schedule Saturday with a noon doubleheader at St. Edward's University. The games are Heartland Conference games and important ones, as LCU is is 3.0 games back of first-place Arkansas-Fort Smith (16-6) and in a three-way tie for second place with St. Edward's and St. Mary's. Six games remain on the Heartland schedule. And the top four teams qualify for the conference tournament in Cleburne, Texas.
 
RANKINGS 
LCU: No.19 (Perfect Game)
SEU: National: N/A   Regional: No.7 (NCAA South Central Region Poll)
 
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHER
 
GAME 1
LCU – Ryan Johnson (6-3 2.77 ERA)
Johnson is scheduled for his 12^th appearance and 11^th start of the season. He is LCU's only starting pitcher that has hed opponents to a sub-.200 batting average (.196). He allowed two runs off four hits last week at Rogers State in his last start. He is 1-0 against SEU this season. On Mar. 16, he went 4.2 innings and allowed two runs off three hits in a 7-6 LCU win.
 
SEU – Tanner Lawson (8-2, 2.77 ERA)
The junior lefty from Spring, Texas will take the hill for a 12^th time this season. He has gone the distance with seven complete games and two for shutouts. He is coming off a complete game 7.0 inning performance against Oklahoma Christian, in which he allowed one run off five hits. He allowed two runs off six hits in over 6.0 innings in his last meeting against LCU.
 
GAME 2
LCU – Daniel Crooks (4-3, 3.76 ERA)
Crooks is coming off his first complete game shutout (allowed four hits in nine innings at Rogers State), which led to Pitcher of the Week accolades in the Heartland Conference. He has held opponents to under four runs in five of his last six opponents. He is 0-1 this season against SEU. On Mar. 17, he went 7.1 innings and allowed one unearned run off seven hits in a 1-0 LCU loss.
 
SEU – Juan Cortina (2-6, 4.64 ERA)
Cortina will make his 12^th start of the season and is the Hilltoppers strikeout leader with 83 strikeouts in 64 innings pitched. He has rockered in his prior four outings, allowing five runs in two of the games and one run in the other two. He went 4.1 innings against Oklahoma Christian and allowed five runs off five hits. The senior right-hander from Humble, Texas allowed seven runs off nine hits in over 5.0 innings against LCU in his prior meeting, but only two of the runs were earned.
 
LOOKING BACK
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.
  
ROAD TRIPPING
LCU is 11-10 on the road this season and have lost their last two games on the road. This series marks their final regular season road games of the season (14-8 last season on the road). The Chaps, who opened their road schedule with wins in their first five road tilts, head into Saturday's games with a team batting average of .288 on the road and an ERA of 5.23. Andrew Pratt leads LCU away from Hays Field, hitting .403 on the road. The Chaps have a 24-10 advantage in home runs on the road, with Ryan Rogers (six) and Pratt (five) combining for 11 homers on the road. On the hill, opponents are hitting .291 against LCU pitching away from Hays Field. LCU's pitchers have 128 strikeouts and 90 walks on the road. Chandler Casey (14K, 1BB) and Daniel Crooks (28K, 7BB) have combined for 42 strikeouts and eight walks on the road.
 
STREAKS
Logan Nethercot is leading the team actively on a four-game hit streak heading into Saturday's play in Austin.  Nethercot joins Andrew Pratt with a streak of four consecutive games reaching base safely (active). Ryan Rogers holds the team's season high mark in hit streak (12 games) and reaching base safely (23 games).
 
HAVING HEART
The Chaps are 13-9 in conference play and hitting .319 in conference games this season. Andrew Pratt (.419) and Scotland Church (.378) each co-lead LCU with 31 hits in conference play. The Chaps have six players with at least 15 RBI in conference play, with 20 by Ryan Rogers to top the list. LCU's pitching has a 4.96 ERA in conference play, with opponents hitting .271 against them.  Opponents have a 7.07 ERA against LCU in conference.
  
INSIDE THIS SEASON'S SERIES WITH SEU
.217 | LCU is hitting a low of .217 against the Hilltoppers this season. Logan Nethercot is hitting .389 (7-for-18) to lead LCU in the series.
.435 | SEU has a .435 on-base percentage against LCU this season, due in part to 11 hit batters and 29 walks issued by LCU pitchers (15 by the LCU bullpen).
14-2 | SEU has a 14-2 advantage in the series in bases loaded at-bats, with a 5-1 advantage in bases loaded hits in the series.
25-7 | The Hilltoppers have a 25-7 scoring advantage in two-out RBI.
18 | William Harrison leads SEU with 18 total bases in the series (off 12-for-25 batting in the series, .480).
  
HISTORY WITH SEU
LCU leads the all-time series with an advantage of 20-14 dating back to 1986. The Chaps are 10-8 all-time away from Hays Field against the 'Toppers. Last season, LCU took two-of-three games in their Heartland Conference series, but the season series ended 2-2, as SEU won the final two meetings (including a win at the Heartland Conference Tournament in Cleburne, Texas). SEU is 4-2 against LCU this season.