No. 6 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (30-11)
vs. No. 14 WEST TEXAS A&M (36-8)
April 23 – 6:30 P.M.
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
 
LAST OF THE NON-CONS
Tuesday's matchup with the Buffs is the last of 27 scheduled non-conference games in the regular season for the Chaps. In those games so far this season, LCU has posted an 18-8 record, including a 7-2 showing at home and an 11-6 record in road or neutral site games. Keaton Greenwalt and Hill Alexander have led the team with identical .382 batting averages in those 26 games, while eight of Andrew Pratt's 13 home runs came outside of Heartland play. Ryan Johnson has also been dominant in non-conference play, striking out 55 batters in 48.0 innings pitched with a 1.31 earned run average.
 
TEAM LUKE
The game against WT is "Team Luke Night" for the Chaparrals, as they look to raise money for the Team Luke Hope For Minds foundation. Luke Siegel, the son of former Texas Tech men's tennis coach Tim Siegel, was in a golf cart accident on July 28, 2015, suffering trauma to the chest and head. Team Luke was started in the Lubbock area to support the Siegel family both emotionally and financially. In 2018, Team Luke joined forces with Hope4Minds, another nonprofit organization founded after a brain injury to an 11-year-old boy named JD in 2008. The goal of the combined team is to help families pay for items not covered or partially covered by insurance, providing advocacy and education, and building support communities. LCU will be donating all money from ticket sales to the foundation. Team Luke t-shirts will also be for sale, as will Tim's book, with the money raised going to the foundation.
 
LONE STAR OPPONENTS
Even though it is outside of conference play, Lubbock Christian's Tuesday game against West Texas A&M is important because of its South Central Region implications. The Buffs play in the Lone Star Conference, which along with the Heartland and the RMAC makes up the South Central Region. LCU usually plays several Lone Star opponents each season, and WT is the third they have faced this year. This season, the Chaps are 5-3 against LSC opponents with series wins at Angelo State and against Cameron. Since 2014, LCU has played almost 50 games against Lone Star opponents, going 28-20 in that time.
 
ON THE RIGHT FOOT
More than 40 percent of the time, the Lubbock Christian offense starts off the inning the way any baseball team wants to, by getting their leadoff batter on. In 331 chances this season, LCU leadoff batters have been successful at reaching base 145 times for a .438 success rate. Keaton Greenwalt has been the best leadoff batter for the Chaps, reaching base 18 times in his 35 chances leading off an inning, or 51.4 percent of the time. Chase Whetsel usually bats in the one-hole and is the first batter of the game for the Chaps, reaching base at a .410 clip in leadoff opportunities. Whetsel also has a team-leading five leadoff home runs, and the Chaps have hit 17 leadoff bombs altogether.
 
SUPER SENIOR
Hill Alexander joined the Chaparral baseball program for just one season, coming to Lubbock after two seasons at Midland College and one year at Dallas Baptist, where he hit .274 in 35 games with the Division I Patriot baseball team. The Arlington native is hitting .419 this season, including a dominant .483 average in Heartland Conference games. Among all Division II players, his 123 total bases are the ninth most, while his 67 hits rank 12^th and his .769 slugging percentage is No. 15. Alexander leads the conference in those three categories, while ranking first in on-base percentage (.473) and runs batted in (50) as well.
 
CLEAN LIVING
LCU currently leads the conference and ranks No. 21 in all of Division II with a team fielding percentage of .972. The Chaps have committed just 40 errors this season and earlier this season had a streak of 198 outs recorded without an error that stretched over nine games. The team's fielding is greatly improved from last season, when the Chaps committed 71 errors in just 54 games. If this year's team were to continue on at its current pace of committing errors, it would not be until the 73^rd game of the season that they committed their 71^st error. Two LCU players, Keaton Greenwalt and Ryan Rijo, have not committed any errors yet this year.
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
All seven of the games left on the schedule this season will be played at home for the Chaps. 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 is 13-2 at home this season and is 113-32 in their own ballpark since the start of the 2014 season.
 
KINGS OF THE K
Lubbock Christian's pitching staff leads the Heartland Conference in strikeouts this season with 311, while St. Mary's ranks close behind with 210 in second place. Three LCU hurlers rank in the top 10 individually in Ks, led by Ryan Johnson with a Heartland-leading 91. Chandler Casey ranks third with 70 this season, and Callan Johnson is No. 7 with 50 on the year. Casey is also second in the league with 23 strikeouts looking, behind only OC's Gabe Roddery. Twelve times this season Chap pitchers have reached the double-digit strikeout mark in a single game.
 
MULTI-HOMER PERFORMANCES
Through the first 34 games of the season, five different Chaparral batters have already delivered with single game, multi-homer performances. Outfielder/Designated hitter Will Clark was the most recent to do it, homering twice against TAMIU on 4/19. First basemen James Hardberger was the first to 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 on 2/11. Andrew Pratt has three multi-homer games, hitting two on both 3/1 vs. St. Mary's and 3/8 vs. St. Edward's and smashing three homers against Newman on 3/29. Hill Alexander had multi-homer games on 4/5 against Oklahoma Christian and against St. Edward's on 3/9.
 
PERFECT RECORD
In 12 starts this season, LCU starting pitcher Ryan Johnson has been dominant. He has won 11 times, only taking a no-decision in his first start of the season, and has since won 11 straight. His win total is the most in a single season since 2011, when Brig Gerlich was 11-0. The Lubbock Christian record for consecutive wins by a pitcher is 12, set by Steve Hunter.
 
STRENGTH IN STARTERS
A big key to the success of the LCU baseball team through the first half of the season has been its starting pitching. Ryan Johnson, Callan Johnson, Ricky Contreras, Nathan Dockery, Chandler Casey, Logan McCrummen and Shandon Herrera have all been tasked with beginning games on the mound this season, and overall, the group has posted an astonishing ERA of just 3.04. The six starters have struck out 254 batters while walking just 101 over 251.2 innings pitched and thrown 14 complete games while limiting opponents to just a .220 batting average.
 
CLEAR THE BASES
It took 31 games and more than 1,000 at-bats, but a Chaparral batter finally hit a home run while the bases were loaded in the 28-1 win over Newman on 3/29. Senior Chase Whetsel did the damage, coming to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning after three straight singles by Ryan Rijo, Andres Negron and Will Clark. He took a 1-1 pitch and pull it over the right field wall, increasing the Chap lead to 18-0. The home run was Whetsel's sixth of the season, but only his second with any runners on base.
 
IN THE POLLS
Lubbock Christian was recognized in all three of the most recent Division II polls, as well as the regional poll. The Chaps' highest ranking came from Perfect Game, where sit in the No. 6 spot. LCU also made the top 25 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Poll, where they are No. 23 and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll, where they were slotted at No. 21. In the NCBWA regional poll, LCU is ranked fifth.
 
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.
 
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. Lubbock Christian has played 3,116 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,103 wins and 1,013 losses in that time.
 
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 245-118 (.667) won-loss record.
 
MAJOR-LEAGUE CONNECTION
With the 2019 Major League Baseball season under way, 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.
 
SCOUTING THE BUFFS

• West Texas A&M's pitching staff ranks No. 2 in the nation with 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings
• Buffs reach base at a .431 clip, which ranks sixth among all Division II teams
• WT has played only 13 games against teams with .500 or better records, going 6-7 in those contests
• Tuesday starter Zach Dixon is a transfer from Arizona State and the Buffs' No. 2 starter, ranking third in the LSC with a WHIP of 1.18
• WT catcher Kyle Kaufman leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks No. 26 nationally with 65 hits