No.9 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (22-8, 7-1)
At ST. MARY'S (20-10, 4-4)
Friday, Apr. 6, 2018 – 2 p.m. / 4 p.m. (DH)
Dickson Stadium (San Antonio, Texas)
Radio: KJTV 100.7 The Score (Game 1 Only)
All-Time Series: LCU leads 16-12
|
 
The No.9 Chaparrals begin the second leg of an eight-game road trip Friday, as they open a four-game Heartland Conference series at St. Mary's with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.  The Chaps are atop the Heartland Conference standings with a 7-1 conference mark after winning three-of-four game at Newman last week.  Their overall record went to 22-8 and they improved to 9-2 in road play.  That road record will be tested in San Antonio, Texas, where St. Mary's is 14-1 this season. Their last home game (Mar. 23 vs. Rogers State) resulted in a 2-0 loss, ending a 14-0 mark to open the season at home. The Rattlers are in third place in the Heartland standings, with a 4-4 conference record. 
 
RANKINGS 
LCU: No.9 (Perfect Game), No.28 (Collegiate Baseball News), RV (NCBWA)
StMU: N/A
 
SCHEDULED STARTING PITCHER
 
GAME 1
LCU – Ricky Contreras (5-1, 2.53 ERA)
The reigning Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Week is scheduled for his ninth appearance and eighth start of the season. He is 5-0 in his last six appearances and has gone at least 4.1 innings in his starts this season. Contreras has allowed one run or less in six of his eight appearances and has held opponents to a .221 average. He tossed a complete game three-hit shutout last Thursday at Newman for his first complete game shutout of the season. He is 2-0 all-time against St. Mary's in four prior appearance (three starts). He has combined for a 1.08 ERA in 25.0 innings, with three runs allowed off 13 hits and 17 strikeouts.
 
StMU – Fernando Fernandez-Beltran (4-3, 2.60 ERA)
The Mercier, Quebec native is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season and is coming off an outing at Oklahoma Christian in which he allowed five runs (three earned) off nine hits in six innings. The lefty is a redshirt senior, who arrived to StMU from University of New Mexico, where his pitching coach was former Texas Tech head coach Dan Spencer, and he was teammates with LCU's Andrew Pratt.
 
GAME 2
LCU – Ryan Johnson (4-2, 2.28 ERA)
Johnson is coming off the Newman series, in which his only appearance was in his first relief role of the season. He has made seven starts on the season and has lasted at least 4.2 innings in his starts. Opponents are hitting .198 against Johnson this season and his 2.28 ERA ranks fourth in the conference. He has allowed an average of 1.9 walks per nine innings, which ranks second in the Heartland.
 
StMU – Zach De La Garza (6-1, 1.87 ERA)
The Chaps will see consecutive starts from left-handed pitching, with sophomore southpaw De La Garza throwing in the second game. The San Antonio native had StMU's only win in the OC series, as he went the distance (9.0 innings) and allowed three runs off four hits while striking out 11 Eagles. He faced LCU in three relief outings last season and had a 4.50 ERA off five runs from eight hits in 5.0 innings of work (seven strikeouts). 
 
LOOKING BACK
After scoring a pair of runs in extra innings, LCU let a 4-2 lead slip away in a 5-4 walk-off win by Newman University for their first Heartland Conference loss, but the Chaparrals rebounded last Friday to take the second game of the doubleheader 9-3, spearheaded by five runs-batted-in from Braden Hayward, to take three of the four games in their first conference road series of the season.
 
WEEKLY HARDWARE
Lubbock Christian University junior Ricky Contreras was named the Heartland Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for games played from March 26 - April 1.
 
Ricky Contreras helped LCU open their four-game series at Newman with a 1-0 shutout win, with a three-hit complete game shutout. It was the third complete game shutout of his career and the first this season. The Chaps starting pitcher had to overcome a few obstacles along the way. All three Jets hits were leadoff singles, but Contreras was hitless from the stretch and held the Jets to 0-for-10 batting with runners on base.
 
This is Contreras' first pitcher of the week award this season and the fifth by a Chaps pitcher this season. Contreras is the fourth different Chaps pitcher to receive the honor joining Callan Johnson (twice), Ryan Johnson and Chandler Casey.
 
MARCHING ALONG
The Chaparrals went 15-4 in the month of March, with the team producing a .337 average and 4.04 ERA during the month. Andrew Pratt (.433) and Ryan Rogers (.408) each hit over .400 in the month, with the two combining for 14 of LCU's 30 home runs hit during the month. The Chaps had an 89-33 advantage in extra-base hits over their opponents in the month.

SENIOR DAY STREAMING SPOTLIGHT
Changes have been made to Lubbock Christian University's Senior Day for baseball, with a special touch for their series hosting Arkansas - Fort Smith in the first week of May. The series, originally scheduled for May 4 - 5 at Hays Field, will now begin Thursday May 3 with a doubleheader at 4 p.m. and Senior Day is set for Friday, May 4 with a doubleheader at 3 p.m. The NCAA has announced Friday's doubleheader will receive additional attention, as the doubleheader will be streamed live on ESPN3 and will be available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase.
 
First pitch for the Senior Day doubleheader is scheduled for 3 p.m. (Central), with the second game tentatively scheduled for 5 p.m., which will mark the close the 2018 regular season against the Lions. The ESPN3 stream will replace the regularly scheduled Heartland Conference Network stream. Live stats will remain unaffected and will be available through www.LCUchaps.com.
 
LCU has never had a baseball game streamed on ESPN3 or carried on any of the ESPN platform of networks. ESPN3 is ESPN's live multiscreen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and streaming devices through the ESPN App. The network currently is available nationwide at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. It is also available at no cost to U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks.
 
ROAD SHOW
LCU is 9-2 on the road this season, with a team batting average of .339 and an ERA of 3.63. Andrew Pratt is hitting .463 away from home and Ryan Rogers has 19 RBI in road games. Pratt (five doubles and five home runs), who has a .560 on-base percentage mark on the road, joins Scotland Church (seven doubles and three homers) co-leading the team in extra-base hits on the road. On the hill, LCU pitching has held opponents to a .257 average on the road. LCU's bullpen has averaged 1.0 strikeouts per inning on the road and has held opponents to a .255 average, while the home team's bullpens have a 10.63 ERA against the Chaps.
 
STREAKS
Ryan Rogers and Andres Negron have the longest active hit streak with hits in the last eight games for LCU. Rogers, who has reached base safely in the last 23 games (team high this season), is 15-for-32 (.469) over his hit streak, while Negron is 12-for-30 (.400) over his eight-game hit streak.
 
HAVING HEART
LCU's 7-1 conference start has been spearheaded by a .379 team batting average and a pitching staff that has held opponents to a .233 batting average. Keaton Greenwalt leads the Chaps with a .484 average (15-of-31) in conference tilts. His 15 hits co-leads with Ryan Rogers, who is hitting .469 in conference. Braden Hayward leads the squad with 12 RBI in conference action. Greenwalt (.500), Andrew Pratt (.545) and Dillon Drury (.519) each have at least a .500 on-base percentage in conference. LCU's starting rotation has a 2.49 ERA in conference play, holding the opposition to a .194 average at the plate.
 
INSIDE THE CHAPS NUMBERS
0.519 | LCU ranks 11^th nationally with a slugging mark of .519 on the season. Andrew Pratt leads the team and ranks 39^th nationally with a mark of .735 (leads conference).
0.91 | Ryan Johnson ranks 28^th nationally in WHIP with a mark of 0.91, which leads the conference.
3.51 | The Heartland Conference is showing some solid pitching numbers from their programs this season, as the Chaps ERA of 3.51 ranks 16^th nationally, but is third best in the Heartland Conference.
8.0 | LCU has allowed 8.0 hits per nine innings, which leads the conference and ranks 14^th nationally.
12 | In the final game of the Newman series, Ryan Rogers had a pair of runs-batted-in for his team leading 12th multi-RBI game this season.
14 | LCU co-leads the conference with 14 sacrifice flies. Ten (10) different Chaps have at least one sacrifice fly this season.
15 | Will Clark leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 34^th nationally with 15 stolen bases this season.
25 | Logan Nethercot has drawn 25 base-on-balls this season (leads the conference) and the walks rank 28^th nationally.
39 | Ryan Rogers leads the conference and ranks 21^st nationally with 39 RBI.
40 | The Chaps have crushed 40 home runs this season, which ranks 19^th nationally (1.33 per game also ranks 15th). Andrew Pratt (10 homers) and Ryan Rogers (eight) are the top two in the conference and Pratt ranks 24^th nationally.
 
FIVE THINGS ABOUT StMU
~ Coming off a series in which they lost three-of-four games, the Rattlers are 20-10 this season and are 4-4 in conference play. At Dickson Stadium, StMU is 14-1. They are 6-9 away from home this season.
~ StMU was preseason picked fourth in the Heartland Conference, receiving two first-place votes (second highest behind LCU). They are coming off a 23-26 overall mark last season, which included a 13-14 home record and 16-8 conference mark (finished third in the conference).
~ The Rattlers have turned 30 double plays this season (12^th nationally) for an average of 1.0 per game (eighth nationally).
~ The team ERA for StMU (3.23) leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 11^th nationally.
~ Within their pitching staff, Fernando Fernandez-Beltran ranks tied for fourth nationally in complete games (5) and is two off the national leader. Zack De La Garza co-leads the conference and is tied for 13^th nationally in victories with six. Fernandez-Beltran (62) and De La Garza (54) are second and third in the conference in strikeouts.
 
HISTORY WITH StMU
LCU and St. Mary's have met 28 prior times dating back to 1978 and the all-time series is led by LCU 16-12. LCU 7-0 against StMU last season, with the final meeting occurring at the Heartland Conference Tournament in Cleburne, Texas. Prior to 2014, the two teams had not met since Feb. 5, 2000. LCU is 7-8 all-time against StMU away from Hays Field.