EDMOND, Oklahoma (April 5, 2019) – Lubbock Christian started off another series right by winning the first game, but dropped game two on Friday afternoon for a doubleheader split against Oklahoma Christian.
 
The Chaps held onto first place in the Heartland Conference with one win in the doubleheader, as they are now 24-9 on the season with a 7-1 record in league play.
 
GAME ONE
LCU wasted no time getting on the board in the opening frame of the day, as Keaton Greenwalt led off the game with a single and quickly game in to score one out later as Hill Alexander blasted a two-run home run over the left field wall. The homer was the first of three on the day from Alexander, as he hit another in the fifth inning as well. The senior was 5-7 in the two games combined with 14 total bases.
 
Oklahoma Christian got one of the runs back in the bottom of the first on a squeeze bunt play with starting pitcher Ryan Johnson on the mound. The Eagles had the bases loaded when Johnson induced a foulout to end the threat. Johnson did not allow another run until the sixth inning, and by that point the Chaps were comfortably ahead by eight runs.
 
Lubbock Christian pushed further out in front first in the fifth inning, as James Hardberger walked and was driven in by another single from Greenwalt. Alexander then homered again and the Chaps went up by four.
 
More runs came in the sixth inning as Hardberger got in on the home run party with a two-run shot of his own. Greenwalt then doubled for his third hit of the first game and quickly came into score on yet another home run, this time from Braden Hayward.
 
Johnson allowed two of the runs back in the bottom of the sixth on a home run, and the Eagles got runners on first and second with one out in the seventh, but the Manitoba native struck out a pair of batters to secure his ninth victory.
 
GAME TWO
The Chaps got on the board first again the second game of the day, as Hayward reached on a fielding error that allowed Chase Whetsel to score in the top of the third inning. Alexander made the error really hurt with yet another home run to left field. The blast put him in the double-digits for the season with 10, which ranks second-best in the Heartland Conference.
 
OC got one of the runs back with a home run of their own in the third, but an Eddy Vasquez single in the fourth inning scored Hardberger and put the Chaps up 4-1. The Eagles scored another single run in the fourth and the Chaps got it back in again in the fifth. This time it was Ryan Rijo doing the damage for LCU, crushing a double to the deepest part of Dobson field to drive Hill Alexander and Andrew Pratt, who had walked and singled, respectively.
 
The double put the Chaps up 6-2, and that was still the score when Oklahoma Christian came to the plate two innings later in the bottom of the seventh. Logan McCrummen was on the mound now, having replaced starter Ricky Contreras in the sixth. The Eagle offense finally came alive then using a two-out rally to take their first lead of the game at 7-6.
 
Chase Berberich was on the mound in the top half of the seventh, making him the pitcher of the record in the game, and Berberich closed out the game in the eighth and ninth with a pair of perfect frames. Chase Whetsel came close to tying things up for the Chaps in the ninth with a drive to right field, but it hung up just short at the warning track. Hayward then flied out to end the game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.402 | Keaton Greenwalt had five hits in eight at-bats on the day, pushing his batting average to a league-leading .402 mark
3 | Pitcher Ryan Johnson had not given up three earned runs in an outing all season until last week's win against Newman, but has now given up three in back-to-back starts
10-24 | Oklahoma Christian had 10 hits in 24 at-bats with runners in scoring position, hitting .417 in that situation on the first day
43.0 | Lubbock Christian has not committed an error since the fourth inning of last Tuesday's game against New Mexico Highlands, marking 43 straight innings without an error
23 | With five home runs on the day, the Chaps now have 49 on the season, 23 more than the next closest Heartland Conference team
 
NEXT UP
The Chaps and Eagles will play the rubber game of the series at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Dobson Field.