LUBBOCK, Texas (April 11, 2019) – No. 7 Lubbock Christian University swept a doubleheader on Thursday afternoon against St. Edward's securing a win in the three-game series thanks to strong starting pitching outings from Ryan Johnson and Logan McCrummen.
 
Johnson started game one for the Chaps, who are now 28-9 on the season and 10-1 conference play, despite walking a season-high six batters in six innings on the mound. McCrummen then started the second game on short notice and had his best outing of the year, setting a new season high with six strikeouts in seven innings pitched.
 
GAME ONE
The Hilltoppers took the first lead of the day in the very first inning, scoring two off an unusually wild Ryan Johnson, who started the game for LCU. It did not take the Chaps long to get the runs back, however, as Braden Hayward walked with one out and quickly scored on a Hill Alexander triple. Keaton Greenwalt came to the plate next and singled to score Alexander, knotting the game back up at 2-2.
 
SEU got their third and final run off Johnson in the second on a pair of two-out hits before Johnson struck out Robby Lammons to end the inning. Once again, however, the SEU lead did not last for long as the Chaps followed with offense of their own. A single from Hayward tied the game back up, scoring Andres Negron, but LCU did not stop there. Alexander then singled to score Rijo, forcing SEU to go to the bullpen. Brandon Pettinati came in to relieve the Hilltopper starter Ryan Hill and was promptly greeted by a Greenwalt home run on his first pitch to the center fielder, extending the Chap lead to four runs.
 
Johnson settled down after the second inning, pitching through the sixth without allowing another Hilltopper run. St. Edward's came close in the fourth inning, as Ryan McPhail led off with a triple before a pair of walks loaded the bases with no outs. Johnson then got a pop out to the second basemen and a ground ball double play to end the threat.
 
The LCU offense helped Johnson by adding to the lead with a run in the third and two in the fourth. Eddy Vasquez drove in Will Clark in the third with a single to center field, and Andres Negron drove in Clark and Andrew Pratt in the fourth.
 
Freshman Koi Carrillo came in to close out the game on the mound in the seventh, making his first of two appearances on the day. The Lubbock native was not helped by his defense, which committed two errors, but he got out of it with just one unearned run allowed, inducing a flyout to end the game.
 
GAME TWO
Senior Ricky Contreras was slated to start game two of the doubleheader but was unable to do so, forcing Logan McCrummen onto the mound at the beginning of the game on short notice. All the junior did was match his season high in innings pitched, allowing just two runs while scattering seven hits and striking out a career-high six batters.
 
LCU's offense did give McCrummen an early lead to work with, as leadoff batter Chase Whetsel homered to right field on the second pitch he saw. It was the seventh home run of the season for Whetsel, and his fifth when leading off an inning. The Chaps added a second run in the top of the first after Hayward singled to right field and Pratt drove him in with an RBI double to left field.
 
The two runs would prove important, as Lubbock Christian was able to add only one more throughout the final eight innings of the game. They left eight runners on base in the game including stranding the bases loaded after filling them up with no one out in the bottom of the second inning.
 
McCrummen kept the Hilltoppers at bay, however, and the Chaps scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Whetsel hit a high chopper in the infield that got him on base with one out, and Hayward followed with a single through the left side to move him into scoring position. Whetsel then came into score from second on a Greenwalt infield single. As the SEU third basemen tried to make the throw and get Greenwalt, Whetsel never slowed at third, diving in ahead of the throw home to score his second run of the game.
 
Koi Carrillo came in to relieve McCrummen starting in the eighth inning, making his second appearance in one day. He faced just three batters this time, setting up the Chaps to bring in Chandler Casey for the save in the ninth.
 
Casey played his part perfectly as well, striking out the first batter and inducing a ground out from the second before a weakly hit ball to third put a Hilltopper on base. The baserunner lasted just one pitch, taking off for second on a ball in the dirt, where he was gunned down by Pratt to end the game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6 | Eddy Vasquez had his sixth sacrifice bunt of the season in the first game of the doubleheader, which is the most on the team and ranks fourth in the Heartland Conference
.332 | In the six games against SEU this season, Lubbock Christian is hitting .332 as a team
198 | LCU's errors in the seventh inning of the first game broke a streak of 198 straight outs recorded without an error, dating back to the March 26 game against New Mexico Highlands
0-5 | St. Edward's was 0-5 in the two games combined when batting with the bases loaded
5/3 | Chandler Casey's save was his first this season and his first since May third of last season when he struck out three batters in two innings to preserve a win over Arkansas-Fort Smith
 
NEXT UP
The Chaps will look to close out the season series against St. Edward's with another win as they take on the Hilltoppers at 2 p.m. on Friday at Hays Field.