LUBBOCK, Texas (February 24, 2019) – Lubbock Christian University opens up conference play of their 2019 Heartland Conference softball schedule Sunday hosting Newman University for a doubleheader at PlainsCapital Park on the LCU campus. The games were originally scheduled for Saturday, but high winds postponed the games to Sunday. LCU has had eight games this season canceled or postponed due to weather.
 

NEWMAN at LCU
OPPONENT	LOCATION	CITY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS	LCU STATS	OPP. STATS
NU	PlainsCapital Park	Lubbock, Texas	11 a.m.	Watch	Live Stats	LCU STATS	NU STATS
NU	PlainsCapital Park	Lubbock, Texas	1 p.m.	Watch	Live Stats

 
LCU and NU Series Snapshot

• LCU leads the all-time series over NU, 15-2.
• The two teams met five times last season (two in Wichita, Kan. and three times in Lubbock), with LCU going 4-1 against the Jets (3-0 in Lubbock).
• Lubbock Christian has won the prior four meetings, with the previous meeting resulting in a 9-1 LCU win in five innings on Mar. 17.
• LCU is 9-0 all-time against Newman in Lubbock.
• The Lady Chaps were scheduled to face NU six times this season. The only non-conference tilt scheduled was canceled due to weather on Feb. 16. Following Saturday's doubleheader, LCU and the Jets will play a three-game series in Wichita (Mar. 15-16).

 
Opening Thoughts

• LCU has posted 102 runs this season, averaging 10.2 runs a game, which ranks third in all of NCAA Division II. Lubbock Christian posted at least 10 runs in their opening four games of the season (a program first) and have tacked 10 or more runs in six of their 10 contests.
• The Lady Chaps have nine wins in the circle, with four claimed in relief. Four different pitchers have received a win, with three claiming multiple wins: Jordan Wehr (3-0), Taylor Franco (3-1) and Amber Carlton (2-0).
• Alivia Villarreal leads the team at the plate, leading the conference hitting .533. Megan Darling sits directly behind her in the conference batting average leaderboard batting .529, which is second in the conference.  Villarreal ranks fifth in the Heartland Conference in RBI (14) and Darling is tied for eighth in doubles (4).   
• Lindzi Clemmer has 16 hits this season (co-leads team) and nine have been for extra bases (she is tied for fourth the conference with four doubles). Clemmer leads the conference in triples (3), ranking fourth nationally, and is tied for fifth in the conference in runs scored (15). She is 13^th nationally in runs per game (1.50), ranking second in the conference behind teammate Savannah Wysocki, who is 10^th nationally with a conference-leading 1.6 runs per game.
• The statistic of "game-winning RBI" is not an official statistic, but K'leigh Arredondo has three game-winning runs-batted-in. Savannah Wysocki and Morgan Dufour each have two the game-winning RBI of LCU's nine victories (Alexis Reed, Morgan Dufour and Villarreal each have one).
• LCU did not have a four-hit performance last season. They have had three in 10 games this season, as K'leigh Arredondo produced four hits against Southern Nazarene, Savannah Wysocki had a four-hit game against Chadron State and Lindzi Clemmer went 4-for-5 against West Texas A&M.
• Wysocki has two triples on the season (tied for second in the conference and 20^th nationally) and Annika Schwartzenberg has five doubles to rank tied for fourth in the conference. Schwartzenberg leads the conference in doubles per game (0.56). Wysocki also ranks fifth in RBI (14) and third in RBI per game (1.4).
• Don't tell anyone, but K'leigh Arredondo has 29 at-bats this season and has not struck out. She is 183 batters in NCAA Div. II, with qualified at-bats, to not have a strikeout at the plate.  Arredondo leads the Lady Chaps in RBI (15), which ranks third in the conference and 26^th nationally. Her rate of 1.5 RBI per game is second in the conference and 31^st nationally.
• Taylor Franco pitched the program's 17^th no-hitter with a five-inning complete-game victory over University of the Southwest on Feb. 15. Franco ranks tied for seventh nationally with two shutouts, and is sixth in the conference in strikeouts (23) and fourth in strikeouts per seven innings (6.5).

 
How is the Team Doing?

• LCU is 9-1 this season and have won their last five games.
• The Lady Chaps lead the Heartland Conference in batting (.401, fourth nationally), on-base percentage (.491, third nationally) and runs per game (10.2, third per game), doubles per game (3.1, leads the nation), triples per game (0.6, 12^th nationally), slugging percentage (.620, fourth nationally), and rank second in RBI (89)
• On the defensive side, LCU leads the Heartland Conference in double plays turned per game (0.7, ranks ninth nationally).
• In the circle, LCU ranks tied for 10^th nationally in shutouts with four.

 
Doubleheaders

• LCU went 23-15 last season in games part of a doubleheader. They are 7-1 this season.

 
Conference Openers

• LCU is 7-4 all-time in conference openers.
• The Lady Chaps are 2-3 in Heartland Conference openers (they went 5-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference openers)
• Last season (Feb. 20, 2018), LCU opened conference play with a 3-0 win at home over St. Edward's.

 
Heartland Conference Breakdown

• LCU is 89-31(74.2%) all-time in Heartland Conference play. They are 55-6 (90.2%) all-time in Heartland Conference home games.
• In 2018, LCU was 18-12 in conference and 14-2 in conference home games.

 
Home Trends

• LCU is 232-22 (91.3%) all-time in home games at PlainsCapital Park.
• The Lady Chaps are 7-1 this season at home
• LCU is hitting .380 at home this season and averaging 9.9 runs per game.
• Megan Darling (.533) Alivia Villarreal (.520) are leading LCU at home.
• LCU has a 31-12 advantage in extra-base hits at home, with 23 for doubles (Lindzi Clemmer with five doubles).

 
Streaks

• Villarreal has at least one hit in all 10 games this season (she also has reached base safely in the same span).
• K'leigh Arredondo has hit safely in five straight games and has reached base safely in her last nine games.
• Alexis Reed has hit safely in the last four consecutive games.

 
Calling it a Career

• 3 | Morgan Dufour ranks third in NCAA Division II among active career leaders in home runs in her career (46). Currently second in Heartland history.
• 8 | Lindzi Clemmer ranks eighth in NCAA Division II among active career leaders in runs scored in her career (153). Currently seventh in Heartland history.
• 15 | Lindzi Clemmer ranks 15th in NCAA Division II among active career leaders in triples in her career (11). Currently ninth in Heartland history.
• 15 | Lindzi Clemmer ranks 15th in NCAA Division II among active career leaders in hits in her career (197).
• 16 | Lindzi Clemmer ranks 16th in NCAA Division II among active career leaders in at-bats in her career (560).
• 19 | Lindzi Clemmer ranks 19th in NCAA Division II among active career leaders in games played in her career (176).

 
Looking at NU

• The Jets are coming off a 13-38 season and they went 7-23 in the Heartland Conference.
• This season marks Newman's final season as conference foes with LCU. As LCU makes the move to the Lone Star Conference, Newman heads to the MIAA as associate members.
• NU is 1-4 to start the season. They have dropped their last three games, and all were played in Edmond and Oklahoma City, Okla. in weather under 30 degrees (LCU was scheduled to play in the same tournament but canceled their games).
• The Jets are 1-9 in their last 10 conference openers, with their 2017 conference opening win over Texas A&M International marking their lone win in the span.
• Newman has nine home runs in five games played, ranking them fourth nationally with an average of 1.8 homers per game. Emma Eck, Bailey Bugner and Lacey Colvin each co-lead NU with two home runs. Six different Jets have home runs.
• The Heartland Conference Preseason Polls have NU selected No.6 (out of 7).