SAN ANTONIO, Texas (March 2, 2019) – Runs came early but not often enough for Lubbock Christian University, as they lost the series finale to St. Mary's 10-7 on Saturday afternoon.
 
The game looked good at the start, with Chase Whetsel hitting a home run in his first at-bat of the day. It was his team-leading fifth of the season, four of which have been to lead off innings. St. Mary's retook the lead quickly in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs and the game's early back-and-forth began. The Chaps got the two runs back in the third inning on a single from Andrew Pratt and a Keaton Greenwalt flyout.
 
Greenwalt had the best day at the plate of any Chap hitter, collecting hits in all four of his at-bats along with a pair of RBI and one stolen base. Two other LCU batters had multi-hit performances on the day, as Chase Whetsel and Hill Alexander both recorded three. Alexander also walked once.
 
StMU got a run back in the bottom of the third, but LCU took the lead again in the fourth inning with another four runs. Whetsel drove in a run with a double to right centerand Andrew Pratt had a sacrifice fly. Ryan Rijo and Greenwalt both drove in runs with singles. The runs put the Chaps up 7-4, but would be the last they scored on the day.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, the Rattlers got two of the runs back and then in the fifth inning they took the lead for good. Shandon Herrera took over on the mound and St. Mary's was able to score four runs, eventually getting up 9-7 before the inning ended.
 
Throughout the rest of the game, LCU was only able to scratch across five more hits, including two by Greenwalt. Chandler Casey closed out the game on the mound after Herrara, pitching 3.1 innings of relief and allowing just one more run on the way to the 10-7 St. Mary's win.
 
Lubbock Christian will be on the road for one more weekend, traveling to Austin to take on St. Edward's in a four-game series.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.403 – Keaton Greenwalt went a perfect 4-4 at the plate in the series finale and now leads the team with a .403 batting average
55 – Lubbock Christian added to its Heartland Conference lead with the 22 home run of the season, but it was another solo shot, meaning 55 percent of their home runs on the season have been without runners on base
8 – With two doubles and one home run, outfielder Chase Whetsel finished the day with eight total bases, the most on the team