LAREDO, Texas (April 18, 2019) – The Lubbock Christian baseball team split a doubleheader with Texas A&M-International on Thursday afternoon, winning game one 15-6 before dropping the second game 10-9.
 
The Chaparrals (30-10, 12-2 Heartland) held an 8-4 lead in the eighth inning of the second game and looked to be cruising to their seventh straight victory before Texas A&M-International exploded for six runs to take the lead and win the second game. The two teams will now play the rubber game at noon on Friday at Jorge Haynes Field.
 
GAME ONE
Lubbock Christian took the lead just two batters into the game as left fielder Chase Whetsel led off with a single and third basemen Braden Hayward followed with an opposite field home run over the right field wall. The Chaps added one more run in the inning on a pair of doubles from right fielder Hill Alexander and catcher Andrew Pratt, giving LCU a three-run lead before starting pitcher Ryan Johnson ever took the mound.
 
Johnson, starting for the 12^th time this season, struggled some with his command, walking four batter in just four innings pitched. He added to his league-leading strikeout total, however, with seven on the day and allowed just two runs for his 11^th straight win. It is the most wins in a season by a Chap pitcher in a single season since Brig Gerlich went 11-0 in 2011.
 
The Chaps broke the game open in the top of the third, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six runs. A pair of the runs were unearned, and Hayward and Alexander had RBI in the inning. The pair had almost identical lines at the end of the day, as both racked up four hits in five at-bats with four RBI and two runs scored.
 
Two of Alexander's RBI came in the fifth, when he homered for the 12^th time this season. The Chaps then added two more runs in the sixth and another in the seventh en route to the 15-6 win.
 
Closing out the win on the mound, Lubbock Christian used for different arms. The Chaps got a shutout inning each from Reagan Lucia and Brennen Fowler before seeing two thirds of an inning from Kameron Deterding and one third of an inning from Cody Lancaster.
 
GAME TWO
LCU took a first-inning lead again the second game this time off the bat of Keaton Greenwalt, who doubled to score Hill Alexander. TAMIU responded with a run of its own in the second, but the Chaps retook the lead with another pair of runs in the third.
 
A Hayward triple in the fifth game him a doubleheader cycle and scored Whetsel before Hayward himself came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Greenwalt to increase the Chap lead to 6-2. The Dustdevils fought back with lone runs in the fifth and seventh, but gave them right back to the Chaps in the top of the eighth, putting LCU up 8-4.
 
The lead was short-lived. With Chandler Casey on the mound in relief, TAMIU recorded five straight singles before earning a walk and a hit-by-pitch to tie the game with no outs in the bottom of the eighth. Reagan Lucia then came in and recorded three outs, but a sac fly and a pair of walks allowed Texas A&M-International to take a 10-8 lead.
 
Down to their final three outs, LCU did not go down quietly, scratching across on run with a sacrifice fly from Will Clark. The third out was recorded, however, and the Chaps saw their six-game win streak snapped.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
7^th | Chaps lost for the fourth time this season when leading after the seventh inning
10 | The 10 runs allowed by the Chap pitching staff in game two of the doubleheader were tied for their most allowed in a single game this season. They also allowed 10 on 3/2 in a loss to St. Mary's
6 | Chandler Casey allowed six earned runs during his time on the mound, marking the first time he allowed multiple earned runs in an outing in more than a month (3/15 vs. TAMIU)
70.6 | LCU had 17 opportunities with a runner on third base and less than two outs, converting with RBIs in 12 (70.6 percent) of those opportunities
12 | With six hits, including a double, a triple and a home run, on the day, third basemen Braden Hayward collected a team-leading 12 total bases