CLEBURNE, Texas (May 11, 2018) – Lubbock Christian University suffered their first loss at the 2018 Heartland Conference Tournament, falling 21-10 to St. Edward's University, but they bounced back in the elimination bracket with a 9-5 win to eliminate St. Mary's and move into Saturday's championship series with St. Edward's. No.3-seed LCU must defeat top-seeded St. Edward's twice.
 
LCU was plagued by 14 walks in the opening 21-10 loss to St. Edward's.  The mark topped the prior season high of 13, ironically against St. Edward's on Mar. 16, and the two are the highest single game walk totals for LCU under the guidance of 15-year head coach Nathan Blackwood.
 
SEU opened the scoring early, posting a four-run top of the first inning sparked by a TJ Giselbach home run.  LCU split the deficit in half with a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning by Scotland Church. The Hilltoppers exploded for six runs in the top of the fifth inning with Blake Alexander following a pair of bases loaded walks with a grand slam home run.
 
The Chaps trailed 13-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth inning and attempted to rally back. Andrew Pratt doubled in a run and Ryan Rogers followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 13-5.  Up eight runs, SEU'S Derek Ramos reached on a single and stole second, third and home in the seventh inning.  LCU responded with a five-run seventh inning to cut the deficit to 14-10.  Keaton Greenwalt hit a three-run home run to highlight the three-run inning. The four-run margin would be as close as LCU would get, as SEU ended the game with seven unanswered runs, scoring six in the ninth inning.  A pair of runs scoring on a Ramos triple to complete a 4-for-6 performance.
 
Four Hilltoppers had at least three RBI, with Alexander leading the team with four. Church led LCU at the plate, going 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBI. Greenwalt was 2-for-4 with a trio of RBI. Juan Cortina claimed the win (5-6) on the mound for SEU, going 6.1 innings and allowing nine runs off 10 hits. The Chaps went through five pitchers, with Ryan Johnson suffering the loss (6-5). He allowed seven runs off five hits in 3.2 innings and walked six batters.  The Chaps also committed three errors.
 
LCU fell behind early in an elimination game against St. Mary's after the Rattlers scored a run in the second and third innings to lead LCU 2-0. LCU's offense came alive in the middle innings, sparked by a two-out two-run triple by Dillon Drury in the fourth inning to tie the game 2-2. They built on the momentum in the fifth inning with a three-run inning. James Hardberger, Braden Hayward and Scotland Church each had a double in the inning leading to a 5-2 lead. The Chaps eventually built the lead to 9-2 in the sixth inning. Hardberger, Hayward and Logan Nethercot lined up consecutive singles and Pratt followed a Church sacrifice fly with a two-run mammoth home run to cap the scoring. St. Mary's attempted to chip away at the seven-run deficit with a trio of runs, including a pair driven in by Donnie Perez to complete a 2-for-5 performance, but Chandler Casey came in and held the Rattlers to a hit in the final 2.2 innings to seal the victory for LCU.
 
Church went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and was one of five Chaps with a multi-hit performance. Pratt and Drury also had two runs-batted-in for the Chaps. Callan Johnson (8-4) allowed five runs off nine hits in 6.1 innings for the victory. Former Auburn and Oklahoma southpaw Octavio Rodriguez suffered the loss (3-3) allowing nine runs off 12 hits in 5.2 innings.
 
StMU swept LCU in the regular season series (four games), but suffered their second straight loss at the tournament to LCU.  They fell to 35-18 on the season and were eliminated by the Chaps in the tournament for a second consecutive season.  The Chap, 34-19, are 3-5 all-time at the Heartland Conference Tournament, with all three wins coming against StMU.  LCU has won six of their last seven games and have a 34-19 record heading into Saturday's contest against SEU.