STEPHENVILLE, Texas (March 12, 2020) – In what ended up being a wild and historic day for collegiate sports across the nation, the Lubbock Christian baseball team dropped a pair of games to Tarleton 1-0 and 6-4.
The two games will be the last played by the Chap or any LCU athletic team for at least the next 18 days, with the Lone Star Conference announcing this afternoon that all regular season competition will be suspended through March 30 due to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). LCU enters the suspension with a 7-17 record on the season.
GAME ONE
The first game of the afternoon was a low-scoring affair, with the two teams combining for only eight hits, including just three from the Chaps.
Ty Stephenson was the LCU starting pitcher and had a good outing, throwing six innings with just five hits allowed while walking four and striking out six, but the junior still dropped to 0-3 on the year. The difference-maker came in the second inning, as Ian Groves blasted a home run to left field.
LCU only had six total baserunners in the game, and two of the game in the first inning as
Grant Griffin and
Larry Leitha worked a pair of one out walks. Griffin walked again in the game and also had a single, but the only other Chap hits came from
Edgar Hernandez and
Cayde Ward in different innings.
Justin Waltmon was the winning pitcher for the Texans, throwing a complete-game shutout with just three hits, three walks and eight strikeouts.
GAME TWO
Head coach
Nathan Blackwood was informed of the decision by the LSC to suspend play early on during the second game, and with the future of the 2020 season uncertain, he worked all six LCU seniors into the game before it was over.
Senior
Tate Ellison was just a few feet short of being the game's hero, as he came up in the top of the seventh inning with the Chaps down two and a pair of LCU runners on the bases. The Lubbock native drove the ball the opposite way, but with the wind no longer blowing it stayed just short of going over the fence and was caught for the final out of the game.
Lubbock Christian was competitive offensively in the back end of the doubleheader, scoring four runs in the loss. Tarleton State took an early 1-0 lead again, this time on a double-steal, but senior
AJ Perez tied things up in the fourth with a single to left field.
Tarleton went back on top with a run in the bottom in the fourth before adding four more in what proved to be the decisive fifth inning.
Luis Navarro got a run back for the Chaps in the sixth inning, blasting his team-leading fourth home run of the season over the left field wall. LCU then tried to come back again in the last inning, with Leitha singling to drive in a pair of Chap baserunners before the Ellison flyout ended the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
18 | It will be at least 18 days without baseball or any spring or winter sport competition in general, as the NCAA made the decision to cancel all winter/spring sport championships and the LSC suspended all regular season play through March 30
6 | As the only six seniors on the team,
Tate Ellison,
AJ Perez,
Peyton Maddox,
Brennen Fowler,
Logan McCrummen and
Colin Frondorf all appeared in the second game of the doubleheader
5-6 | In six combined plate appearances on the day, outfielder
Grant Griffin reached base five times, recording two hits and three walks to push his on-base percentage up to .522 this year
3.45 | Ty Stephenson's ERA of 3.45 is the second-lowest on the LCU pitching staff and more than a run better than any other starting pitcher, but he has still yet to earn a win this season
NEXT UP
The next game currently on the schedule that LCU could feasibly play is on April 3, when they are set to host Oklahoma Christian in a the opener of a four-game series at 6 p.m. at Hays Field. Keep up with LCU Athletics on social media and at lcuchaps.com for updates about the regular-season suspension.
