No. 7 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (31-11)
vs. ROGERS STATE (27-13)
April 26 – 3 P.M. (DH)
Hays Field (Lubbock, Texas)
 
LEADING OFF
It's a battle of the Heartland Conference's top two teams this weekend at No. 1 Lubbock Christian takes on No. 2 Rogers State. The Chaps are one game ahead of the Hillcats in the league standings at 12-3 and 11-4, respectively. LCU comes into the weekend after a big midweek win against top-ranked West Texas A&M 6-0 on Tuesday night, behind a complete-game shutout from Chandler Casey.  RSU comes in winners of three straight, sweeping Newman last week in Claremore. Saturday is also "Team Luke Day" with all ticket sales going to the Team Luke Hope for Minds foundation, which supports families with children who have brain injuries.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE
• Lubbock Christian has the sixth best slugging percentage in all of Division II at .537
• LCU is ranked in two of the three D-II National Polls: Perfect Game - 7, CBN - 21
• Outfielder Hill Alexander ranks ninth nationally and leads the conference with 124 total bases
• Hillcats have already surpassed their win total from the 2018 season
• Three LCU players are hitting above .400 in conference games (Greenwalt, Alexander, Hayward)
• Chaps were slotted at No. 3 in the season's first South Central Regional Poll on April 24
• LCU starting pitchers have an earned run average of 2.93
• Andrew Pratt's 13 home runs lead the Heartland and rank No. 21 nationally
 
THE SOONER STATE
The Chaps will be facing a team from Oklahoma for the fourth time this season, having taken on Central Oklahoma (one game), Cameron (four games) and Oklahoma Christian (three games) previously this season. The Chaps are 6-2 in those eight games, outscoring opponents 75-30. Keaton Greenwalt has been especially good against teams from the Sooner State, hitting .559 with three doubles and four home runs, while Andrew Pratt has drawn 14 of his 29 walks in those eight contests. Chandler Casey has made the most appearances on the mound against Oklahoma opponents, posting a 1.23 ERA in 14.2 innings pitched.
 
FROM THE HEART(LAND)
Lubbock Christian and the other seven teams around the league will continue Heartland Conference play this weekend, with the Chaps alone in first place, one game ahead of Rogers State. St. Edward's was picked to win the conference in the 2019 preseason poll with 115 total points and seven first place votes. The Chaps were picked a close second with 111 points and seven first place votes as well. For LCU, this is the sixth season of Heartland Conference play. They are 12-3 in league play this year and 104-44 in Heartland Conference games all-time.
 
TEAM LUKE
Saturday's game against RSU is "Team Luke Day" 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.
 
UPCOMING MILESTONES
With eight seniors regularly in the starting lineup, several Chaps are approaching milestones for their NCAA careers.
Ricky Contreras.................... 250 strikeouts (247)
Ricky Contreras.................... 300 innings pitched (292.2)
Braden Hayward................... 100 games played (96)
Braden Hayward................... 100 RBI (82)
Andrew Pratt........................ 100 RBI (94)
Keaton Greenwalt................ 200 Total Bases (192)
 
 
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 114-32 in their own ballpark since the start of the 2014 season.
 
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 339 chances this season, LCU leadoff batters have been successful at reaching base 148 times for a .437 success rate. Keaton Greenwalt has been the best leadoff batter for the Chaps, reaching base 18 times in his 37 chances leading off an inning, or 48.6 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 .403 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 .415 this season, including a dominant .483 average in Heartland Conference games. Among all Division II players, his 124 total bases are the ninth most, while his 68 hits rank 12th and his .756 slugging percentage is No. 16. Alexander leads the conference in those three categories, while ranking first in on-base percentage (.473) and tying for first in runs batted in with teammate Braden Hayward.
 
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 73rd game of the season that they committed their 71st error. Two LCU players, Keaton Greenwalt and Ryan Rijo, have not committed any errors yet this year.
 
KINGS OF THE K
Lubbock Christian's pitching staff leads the Heartland Conference in strikeouts this season with 322, while St. Mary's ranks close behind with 309 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 81 this season, and Callan Johnson is No. 7 with 50 on the year. Casey is also second in the league with 25 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 42 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.
 
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.
 
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 HILLCATS

• RSU leads the Heartland Conference with a .408 on-base percentage
• Rogers State senior Brock Knoten has 10 saves, which is the third most among any Division II pitcher and leads the Heartland
• Hillcats rank 28^th nationally and second in the conference with a fielding percentage of .971, which is one 1000^th of a point worse the Chaps
• RSU's Zack Mann has nine sacrifice bunts, which is the 12^th most in all of Division II
• Hillcats drew just 50 points in the Heartland Conference preseason poll, ranking No. 6 out of the eight teams