LAREDO, Texas (March 1, 2020) – The Lubbock Christian baseball team technically earned two wins on Sunday afternoon, closing out the suspended game from Saturday 8-4 before taking down Texas A&M International 8-3 in the series finale to earn their second series win of the season.
The Chaps took three of the four games in the series, moving to 6-12 on the year, while Texas A&M International dropped to 5-13.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Before they could start game four, LCU and TAMIU had unfinished business in the form of the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, which was suspended with no outs in the top of the seventh (and final) inning.
The only thing of note to happen in the Chap half of the inning was a single from
Trevor Andrus that made him 2-5 in the game, but the two teams quickly moved to the bottom of the seventh.
Cade Acrey came back out to finish what he had started on Saturday and sat down the Dustdevils in order to close out the win.
Acery earned the win in relief, which was his first of the season. The Lubbock native did not allow a hit or issue a walk in three and a third innings (across two days) sitting down all 11 batters he faced on 28 pitches.
NOW ON TO THE MAIN EVENT
In the scheduled Sunday game, Lubbock Christian sent
Aaron Weseman to the mound to battle Joseph Garza-Delapena. Weseman lasted just two innings but did not allow a run in that time and left with a lead after the Chaps used two walks, a single and a wild pitch to score a run in the top half of the second.
Shandon Herrera came in to relieve Weseman and pitched a gem out of the bullpen, going five innings with just four hits allowed and two strikeouts. He would go on to earn the win, which was his first of the year.
Herrera did allow one run during his time on the mound, which came in the fifth inning. Texas A&M International worked some two-out magic with a single, a walk and a single to score before Herrara punched out Isaac Gonalez to end the inning.
The Chap offense made sure the game did not stay tied for long though, as they sent 12 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth, loading the bases twice and breaking the game open with seven runs – all of which happened with two outs.
George Mendazona and
Larry Leitha had the two biggest hits of the inning, as Mendazona singled the first time the bases were loaded to drive in a pair of runs and Leitha tripled to clear the bases the next time they were loaded.
Skyler Nelson and
AJ Perez also had RBIs in the inning.
Herrera finally left the game in the bottom of the eighth, which was when TAMIU scored their last two runs, but both of those were unearned.
Colin Frondorf was on the mound to close out the win in the ninth.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.375 | Lubbock Christian hit .375 (6-16) with two outs in the series finale, including driving in seven of the eight runs they scored. They are hitting .245 (47-192) with two outs this season
2.57 | Chap starting pitchers posted an earned run average of 2.57 in 21 innings during the series with an opponent's batting average of .263
.340 | With Saturday's second game now officially in the stats and his 2-3 performance today, outfielder/first basemen
Jaxon Shirley has seen his batting average rise to a team-leading .340
3 | Designated hitter
Skyler Nelson was 3-4 with a walk and the double on the day for his first three-hit game of the year and just his second multi-hit game
15/12 | Larry Leitha and
George Mendazona both reached base in every game of the series, extending their reached base streaks to 15 and 12 games, respectively
.422 | The Chaps reached base at a .422 clip during the series compared to just a .333 on-base percentage for the Dustdevils
NEXT UP
Lubbock Christian will be back at home next weekend, taking on D-II newcomer UT Tyler in a four-game set at Hays Field. First pitch for the series opener on Friday is set for 6 p.m.
