EDMOND, Oklahoma (Feb. 2, 2019) – Lubbock Christian University left the Edmond First Pitch Classic with a sour taste in their mouths, giving up five runs in the ninth inning as Missouri Southern State took a 9-8 win in walkoff fashion.
 
Free bases doomed the Chaps in the final inning, as three Lions were hit by pitches and another two were walked. Overall, LCU allowed 10 free passes to first base with six walks and four hit batters.
 
MSSU got on the board first in the game, striking for a first-inning run on a single off LCU starter Ryan Johnson. It was one of just two earned runs Johnson gave up in his first start of the year, scattering four hits during his six innings on the mound.
 
The Chaps quickly took the lead back in the top half of the second inning, thanks to Keaton Greenwalt. With Hill Alexander on base, Greenwalt smashed a home run for the second straight day. LCU was not done in the inning though, as Braden Hayward hit a two-out single and was quickly tripled home by Eddy Vasquez.
 
In the fourth inning, LCU added to their lead with another three runs. James Hardberger led off the inning with a walk and Ryan Rijo followed with a single. Hardberger came around to score on a single from Vasquez, and Will Clark singled as well to load the bases. Andres Negron grounded out to drive in Rijo, and Andrew Pratt followed with a single of his own for his first RBI of the year, bringing the Chap lead to 6-2.
 
Thanks to Hardberger, Lubbock Christian added two more runs in the game, with one in the fifth and one in the seventh. In each inning, the Lubbock native came up to lead off and blasted a solo home run to help bring the Chap run total to eight. It was Hardberger's first multi-homer game of his LCU career. He hit just five all of last season.
 
After Johnson's six innings on the mound, Logan McCrummen made his first appearance in an LCU uniform, giving up just one run and striking out a pair of runners in the seventh. Senior Nathan Dockery followed on the mound and pitched a shutout inning of his own.
 
In the ninth, the Chaps used two pitchers in Reagan Lucia and Chandler Casey. The Lions loaded the bases with no outs with a pair of HBPs and an infield single. A triple cleared the bases and brought MSSU within one run. The Lions loaded the bases again, had a run walked in and then finished off the win with a single through the right side of the infield.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6 – After collecting just four extra-base hits in the first two games of the season combined, LCU pounded out six against MSSU (three home runs, two triples, one double)
2 – Two Chaps (Eddy Vasquez, Hill Alexander) had triples in the game. LCU did not record multiple triples in a single game at all during the 2018 season.
.300 – Through the first weekend of play, LCU has six players hitting .300 or better
12 – Starting pitcher Ryan Johnson struck out 12 batters during his six innings on the mound, two more than his previous career-high of 10 (4/14/18 vs. Texas A&M International). It was also one more than any Chap pitcher struck out in a single game last season
 
NEXT UP
The Chaps will return to the Hub City for their first home series of the 2019 season. They will play four games against Cameron on Feb. 8-10, with first pitch of the series at 4 p.m. on Feb. 8.