SAN ANGELO, Texas (Feb. 17, 2019) – Lubbock Christian University built a first-inning lead a never looked back, beating Angelo State 6-1 on Sunday to take the series two games to one.
 
The hits came early and often for the Chaps, as six of the nine starters recorded at least one, led by Hill Alexander and Chase Whetsel who had three apiece. Whetsel led things off to start the game with Angelo State pitcher Brandon Dusenberry on the mound. The Corpus Christi native laid down a hard push bunt to the second basemen for a single, advancing to second on a throwing error. The next three at-bats looked like carbon copies of each other as Keaton Greenwalt, Andrew Pratt and Hill Alexander all hit ground ball singles through the left side of the infield.
 
With one run in and the bases still loaded with no outs, Dusenberry was pulled for ASU reliever Fabian Muniz, who got back-to-back ground ball outs, but allowed Greenwalt and Pratt to score before the inning finally ended with the Chaps up 3-0.
 
Chap starter Ryan Johnson then came to the mound already with a lead and went to work. The Winnipeg native was in a rhythm all day, starting his windup for the next pitch almost the second he got the ball back from Pratt, and it paid off. Johnson pitched a solid seven innings, scattering six hits, allowing just one run and striking out seven.
 
Johnson's biggest moment of the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning when, with the Chaps now leading 5-1, Angelo State loaded the bases with nobody out. Johnson struck out the next batter up and then induced a soft liner to shortstop Andres Negron, who tagged the runner off second for a double play that ended the inning.
 
With the win, Johnson moved to 2-0 on the year with a 1.35 earned run average and a team-leading 31 strikeouts.
 
LCU got one more insurance run in the top of the eighth inning, as Alexander came back up to the plate with one out. The Arlington native smashed a ball to left field, notching his third home run of the year. Alexander is now hitting .390 on the season, which ranks second on the team only behind Whetsel's .444 average.
 
Chandler Casey made his only appearance of the weekend in the final two innings of the game, striking out a pair. He also ran into a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Rams threatened to rally, but forced a ground ball for a double play to preserve the Chap win.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.444 – Lubbock Christian was 8-18 (.444) with runners in scoring position in the series against the Rams
6 – Hill Alexander leads the team with six multi-hit games, four of which were three-hit games, including Sunday
2.42 – The Chaps gave up just seven earned runs in the entire series, posting a staff ERA of 2.42
5 – Angelo State had five at-bats with the bases loaded in the three games (compared to just one for Lubbock Christian), but the Rams did not get a hit in those five tries