LAREDO, Texas (February 28, 2020) – Lubbock Christian's pitching staff kept Texas A&M International scoreless for 12 innings on Friday, but it wasn't enough as the Dustdevils won the series-opener in the 13^th inning.
 
Junior Ty Stephenson handled the brunt of the work for the Chap pitching staff, throwing what would normally be considered a complete-game shutout. The Ingram native threw 108 pitches through nine innings, scattering six hits and striking out seven TAMIU batters.
 
His offense came close to giving him an early lead in just the second inning, as Luis Navarro walked to lead things off and then advanced to third with two outs thanks to a single from Edgar Hernandez, but the Dustdevils induced a ground ball from Peyton Maddox to end the threat.
 
LCU got baserunner to second base in the third and fourth innings but had their next best chance to take the lead in the top of the seventh. Maddox was hit by a pitch with one out and Trevor Andrus followed with a single to advance Maddox to third. Andrus then stole second, but a popout and a strikeout ended the inning.
 
The seventh inning was the last on the mound for TAMIU starter J.J. Sanchez, who allowed just four hits and walked four batters while striking out 13 Chaps on 130 pitches. He was relieved by Bryce Faust, who closed out the game with just one hit allowed in six innings of work with four strikeouts. Faust got the win in relief, moving to 1-0 on the year.
 
Lubbock Christian's last good scoring chance came in the eighth inning, when they got a leadoff single from Jaxon Shirley and got a runner all the way to third with two outs before Hernandez grounded out.
 
After the regulation nine innings, Jaden Fowler came into the game to relieve Stephenson. He worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10^th but ran into some trouble in the 11^th. He walked the leadoff batter and the second batter reached on a bunt. The Chaps got the first out on a sacrifice, but the runners moved up to second and third. LCU then intentionally walked TAMIU's best hitter, Andrew Holsey, loading the bases with one away. Fowler escaped the jam with a shallow flyout to center field and a ground out to second.
 
Koi Carrillo came in to pitch the 12^th inning and kept the game scoreless, but the Chaps were still unable to get a go-ahead run. Carrillo hit the leadoff batter before recording the first out. Holsey was given a free pass again, but Carrillo hit another batter after that to load the bases. The winning run was pushed across on a called balk.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
0-14 | Texas A&M International won despite not getting a hit in 14 at-bats with runners on base
3.48 | With nine scoreless innings on the mound, Stephenson dropped his earned run average from 4.74 to 3.48
.221 | LCU had just one hit in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position in the loss, dropping their season batting average to .221 in those situations
0.00 | Jaden Fowler worked another two scoreless innings, increasing his season total to seven without having allowed a run
13 | Friday's game was the longest for Lubbock Christian by innings played since May 12, 2017 when they lost 4-3 to Arkansas-Fort Smith at the Heartland Conference Tournament
 
NEXT UP
Lubbock Christian will be back at Jorge Haynes Field on Saturday for a doubleheader against Texas A&M-International with first pitch for the first game scheduled for 1 p.m.