LEADING OFF
Coming off a series sweep at Arkansas-Fort Smith, the Lubbock Christian University baseball team will return to the friendly confines of Hays Field for a four-game homestand, starting with Tuesday's midweek matchup against New Mexico Highlands. The Chaps are 11 games above .500 at 19-8 this season and have won eight of their last nine games. The Cowboys this season are just 9-15 overall, but are coming off a strong showing against then-No. 16 Dixie State, earning a series split with the Trailblazers in Las Vegas, New Mexico. This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season, as LCU will make the return trip to Las Vegas, New Mexico for a game on April 9.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE
• Chaps played only one other midweek game this season, losing to West Texas A&M
• LCU probable starter Nathan Dockery was named the Heartland Pitcher of the Week March 17
• Lubbock Cristian leads the Heartland Conference with 33 home runs this season
• LCU's staff ERA of 3.31 and is the only team ERA sub-4.00
• Chap batters are hitting .321 with runners in scoring position
• LCU starting pitchers have an earned run average of 2.89
• Andrew Pratt's seven home runs lead the Heartland and rank No. 23 nationally
• LCU is ranked in a pair of national polls: CBN-26, Perfect Game-12
 
STRENGTH IN STARTERS
A big key to the success of the Lubbock Christian University baseball team through the first half of the season has been its starting pitching. Ryan Johnson, Callan Johnson, Ricky Contreras, Nathan Dockery, Chandler Casey and Logan McCrummen have all been tasked with beginning games on the mound this season, and overall, the group has posted an astonishing ERA of just 2.89. The six starters have struck out 170 batters while walking just nine over 165.1 innings pitched and thrown 10 complete games while limiting opponents to just a .202 batting average.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
With last Saturday's win against Arkansas-Fort Smith, LCU secured its 12^th road victory of the season, already surpassing 2018's total. Including neutral site games, LCU is 13-6 away from home. In games not played at Hays Field this season, the team is batting .282 with a staff earned run average of 3.52. They have reached base at a clip of .351 and scored 105 runs while limiting opponents to a 2.37 average with 143 strikeouts.
 
ONE-HIT WONDERS
Since March 15, three different Chaparral pitchers have started and completed games on the mound in which they allowed just one hit. Nathan Dockery was the first to do it, allowing just one hit to the first batter of the game on 3/15 against Texas A&M-International in a 10-0 shutout. Logan McCrummen followed with a one-hitter the next day against TAMIU, walking three in his seven innings of work. The most recent standout performance came from Chandler Casey, who carried a no-hitter for 7.2 innings on 3/23 against UAFS, surrendering just the one hit over nine innings while striking out a career-high 11 batters.
 
A GOOD MOVE
So far this season, LCU pitchers have picked six baserunners off, five of which have come from the big left-hander Ryan Johnson. The Manitoba native has already surpassed his three pick-offs from last season, giving him eight in just a two-year career. The five this season are the third most in the last 10 years, behind Lucas Whitmore, who picked off seven runners in 2011, and Guillaume Blanchette, who picked off nine runners in 2015.
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
Lubbock Christian will play the ninth home game of the season when they take on New Mexico Highlands on Tuesday. 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 106-32 in their own ballpark since the start of the 2014 season.
 
SOLO SHOTS
With 31 home runs as a team already this season, Lubbock Christian leads the Heartland Conference ranks No. 8 nationally. More than half (18) 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. Braden Hayward, Chase Whetsel and James Hardberger all have four solo home runs each this season.
MULTI-HOMER PERFORMANCES
Through the first 24 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.
 
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 3,095 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,092 wins and 1,010 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 234-115 (.667) won-loss record.
 
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.