LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (13-7)
vs. TAMIU (8-14)
March 14 – 6 p.m.
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=259518
Audio: N/A
Video: N/A
 
LEADING OFF
After playing 13 straight games on the road, Lubbock Christian University returns to the friendly confines of Hays Field, where they will take on Texas A&M-International for four games in their last non-conference series of the season. The Chaps currently sit at 13-7, coming their first series win at St. Edward's since 2016. Texas A&M-International played in Laredo last weekend, but dropped four straight to St. Mary's. They have now been swept in two straight series and have a seven-game losing streak dating back to March 1. The Dustdevils are 8-14 overall this year and have a better record on the road (5-5) than at home (3-9).
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THE CHAPARRAL NINE
• Chaps went 7-1 against TAMIU last season and is 16-3 against them in the last five years
• LCU played 17 of its first 22 games away from home this season, including the last 13 straight
• Lubbock Cristian ranks No. 4 nationally with 29 home runs this season
• LCU's staff ERA of 3.81 leads the Heartland Conference
• Chap batters are hitting .315 with runners in scoring position
• Two Chap pitchers rank in top 15 nationally in Ks with Ryan Johnson at 8 and Callan Johnson at 12
• OF Hill Alexander's 57 total bases are tied for the 17th most nationally
• Catcher Andrew Pratt already has 19 walks this season, surpassing his 2018 total of 18
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
Lubbock Christian will play the second four of 22 scheduled home games in the 2019 season this weekend as they take on the Texas A&M-International Dustdevils. Originally dedicated on April 29, 1978 as Chaparral Stadium, the complex was renamed Hays Field in 1999 to honor the L.D., Pearl, Larry, and Daren Hays families for their dedication and commitment to the ideals and values of Lubbock Christian University. The playing dimensions of Hays Field measure 340 feet down the lines, 380 feet to the power alleys, and 400 feet to straight away center. LCU was 21-6 at home last season and is 103-31 in their own ballpark since the start of the 2014 season. 
 
THE STARTERS AND THE STAFF
LCU's pitching staff currently has an overall earned run average of just 3.81, which is the best in the Heartland Conference. The Chaparral staff is led by the starting pitchers, which has included Ryan Johnson, Callan Johnson, Ricky Contreras, Logan McCrummen and Nathan Dockery this season. Those starters have posted an even lower ERA at 3.38 while striking out 119 batters and holding opponents to just a .219 average.
 
SOLO SHOTS
With 29 home runs as a team already this season, Lubbock Christian leads the Heartland Conference ranks No. 4 nationally. More than half (17) of those home runs, however, have been without runners on base, and 10 of them have come when the batter was leading off an inning. Last season, when LCU also led the conference with 63 home runs, only 22 of them (35%) were of the one-run variety. The Chaps' have also hit eight two-run homers and four three-run homers this year.  No LCU batter has hit a grand slam to this point in the year.
 
MULTI-HOMER PERFORMANCES
Through just 19 games of the season, four different Chaparral batters have already delivered with single game multi-homer performances. First basemen James Hardberger was the first two do it with a pair of four-baggers on 2/3 vs. Missouri Southern St. Two different players had multi-homer games at the same time on 2/11, as both Keaton Greenwalt and Chase Whetsel homered twice against Cameron. Andrew Pratt is the only Chap with multiple multiple-homer games this season, hitting two on both 3/1 vs. St. Mary's and 3/8 vs. St. Edward's.
 
SWING AWAY
When Nathan Blackwood is signaling from the third base coaching box, he is most likely not telling his hitter to lay down a sacrifice bunt. LCU ranked dead last in the conference in bunts last season with just 17. The next lowest total came from Newman, but even the Jets had 27. This year, the Chaps have laid down exactly four sacrifice bunts, again ranking last in the conference. They did not have a single sacrifice bunt in their most recent series against St. Mary's and second basemen Eddy Vasquez is the only LCU hitter with multiple sac bunts on the year.
 
WORKING IN THE FIELD
LCU ranks No. 26 nationally in fielding percentage at .970 so far this season. The Chaps have handled 693 chances with only 23 errors. Keaton Greenwalt and Hill Alexander have both patrolled the outfield without errors, while Eddy Vasquez leads the infielders with just one error in 69 chances at second base to lead the infielders.
 
LOOKING AT THE LAST SERIES
The Chaps have won each of their last two series, including taking three out of four this  past weekend on the road at St. Edward's. The series was won in the final game, with LCU earning a 10^th-inning win in the series finale thanks to back-to-back doubles from Chase Whetsel and Braden Hayward. Ryan Johnson, Chandler Casey and Logan McCrummen were the winning pitchers in the series.
 
MAJOR-LEAGUE CONNECTION
With MLB spring training under way and opening day right around the corner, a pair of former Chaparral baseball players have been busy. Buck Britton (IF, 2007-08) and Wigberto Nevarez (C, 2013-14) are both now in the coaching ranks in professional baseball. Britton was promoted and named the Double-A manager for the Bowie Baysox of the Baltimore Orioles organization. Nevarez has just ended his playing career and will serve as a coach with the Single-A Rome Braves of the Atlanta Braves organization.
 
2000 AND COUNTING
Since the inception of LCU's baseball program in 1971, the Chaparrals have been one of the best baseball teams at whatever level they were playing at. Lubbock Christian has played 3,091 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,086 wins and 1,009 losses in that time.
 
HOMEGROWN PRODUCTS
Of the 33 players on the Lubbock Christian University baseball team this season, exactly one third (11) played high school baseball in Lubbock. Another three players on the 2019 of LCU's baseball team are from the surrounding area of Lubbock, including Idalou, New Deal and Shallowater.
 
COACHING CONSISTENCY
Lubbock Christian is bringing back the same three main coaches that have been with the team each of the last six seasons. Pitching coach Justin Sundlie, who played catcher at LCU in 2005 and 2006, is the newbie of the group, entering his seventh season with the Chaps, while head coach Nathan Blackwood and hitting coach Bob Fannin have been leading the program for the last 15 seasons. Together, the group has led LCU to a pair of first place finishes in the Heartland Conference, two NCAA South Central Regional appearances and a 228-114 (.667) won-loss record.