HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
No.3-Seed LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (34-19)
vs. No.1-Seed ST. EDWARD'S (32-19)
Saturday, May 12, 2018 – 12 p.m.
The Depot (Cleburne, Texas)
Radio: Double-T 97.3 FM
All-Time Series: LCU Leads 20-17
 
Lubbock Christian University and St. Edward's will meet again in Cleburne in consecutive days, but it is a must win for the Chaps, who must defeat the Hilltoppers twice to claim an automatic berth to the NCAA Div. II South Central Region Tournament for a third consecutive season. LCU is 2-1 at this season's conference tournament, while SEU is 2-0.  The Chaps need two wins Saturday to claim their first Heartland Conference Tournament and end SEU's streak of five consecutive tournament titles. LCU has not was a conference tournament since a 2013 Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament title.
 
IF LCU DEFEATS SEU IN NOON GAME
+ They advance to a winner-take-all championship game 45 minutes following the completion of the noon contest.
 
IF LCU LOSES TO SEU
+ The Chaps would finish as a runner-up in the tournament and more than likely have their season end at 34-20.
 
HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SEEDS
1-St. Edward''s
2-St. Mary's
3-Lubbock Christian
4-Arkansas-Fort Smith
 
LOOKING BACK
Lubbock Christian University suffered their first loss at the 2018 Heartland Conference Tournament Friday, 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. Scotland Church went 7-for-9 on the day with five runs and four RBI.
 
IN THE REGION
Here is a look at this week's NCAA Division II South Central Region rankings and how the teams stand in their respective conference tournaments heading into Friday.
1. West Tex. A&M (1-0, playing Tarleton State in LSC Championship Game)
2. Colorado Mesa (2-1, play Colorado School of Mines in RMAC Championship Game)
3. Tex. A&M-Kingsville (1-1, lost to Tarleton St. Friday)          
4. Colo. School. Of Mines (3-0, play Colorado Mesa in RMAC Championship Game) 
5. St. Edward's (2-0, play LCU in HC Championship Game)
6. Ark.-Fort Smith (0-2, eliminated by St. Mary's)
7. Angelo St. (0-1, eliminated after losing to Eastern N.M.) 
8. St. Mary's (1-2, eliminated after losing to LCU)
 
CHURCH IN CLEBURNE
The Chaps, entering the tournament with all-time batting average of .188 at the tournament, are hitting .347 in Cleburne this season. The Chaps have hit ive homers, with two by Keaton Greenwalt, who co-leads the team (with Dillon Drury) with five RBI in the tournament. Scotland Church is 10-for-15 at the tournament (.667) to lead the Chaps. Church has four extra-base hits and seven runs scored in the tournament.
 
STREAKS
Scotland Church and Andrew Pratt co-lead LCU into the Saturday's play with a seven-game hit streak. The longest hit streak of the season thus far is a 12-game hit streak by Ryan Rogers. Logan Nethercot is the active leader in consecutive games reaching base safely with 13. Rogers has the season's longest streak of reaching base safely at 24.
 
NUMBERS INSIDE THE SERIES VS. SEU
.218 | LCU is hitting a low of .218 against the Hilltoppers this season. Logan Nethercot is hitting .345 (10-for-29) to lead LCU in the series.
.457 | SEU has a .457 on-base percentage against LCU this season, due in part to 14 hit batters and 53 walks issued (67 innings) by LCU pitchers (26 by the LCU bullpen).
14-1 | LCU's loss to SEU Friday marked the first time this season LCU had lost a game when scoring at least 10 runs.
17-3 | The Hilltoppers have outscored LCU 17-3 this season in the fifth inning.
24-2 | SEU has an 18-2 advantage in the series in bases loaded at-bats, with a 9-1 advantage in bases loaded hits in the series.
39-10 | The Hilltoppers have a 39-10 scoring advantage in two-out RBI. The Hilltoppers are hitting .360 as a team in two-out at-bats in the series.
27 | William Hairston leads SEU with 27 total bases in the series (off 18-for-34 batting in the series, .529).
 
HISTORY WITH SEU
LCU leads the all-time series with an advantage of 20-17 dat­ing back to 1986. The Chaps are 10-11 all-time away from Hays Field against the 'Toppers and 0-2 all-time at the HC Tournament. 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 7-2 against LCU this season and swept the Chaps in a four-game conference series in Austin (SEU has Won the prior six meetings this season).