LUBBOCK, Texas (March 7, 2020) – The Lubbock Christian baseball team split Saturday's doubleheader with UT Tyler, taking the first game 11-7 before suffering a 4-3 loss in the nightcap.
 
The Chaps finished the day 7-14 overall after handing the Patriots just their third loss of the season, as they moved to 18-3 on the year.
 
GAME ONE
UT Tyler got to Armando Valle early in the first game of the day, using a one-out double and a home run from Bowie Farris to go up 2-0. Valle would settle in nicely after the first inning though, keeping the Patriots scoreless until the sixth inning.
 
For the day, Valle allowed four runs on four hits in six innings of work. He walked three batters but also struck out seven, matching his season-high with 116 pitches.
 
LCU's offense got the two runs back in the bottom of the second inning. Luis Navarro walked to start the inning and scored on a double from Trevor Andrus. Then Andrus came into score when Edgar Hernandez reached on error by the UTT second basemen to tie the game.
 
The Chaps took the lead with two runs on a double and three walks in the third, forcing the starter Reagan MacDonald from the game, but LCU could do no further damage. They added a run in the fourth as Larry Leitha led off with a triple and scored on a groundout from Shirley to push the lead to 5-2.
 
LCU then broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth, sending all nine batters to the plate and scoring six runs. AJ Perez reached on an error to start things off and Peyton Maddox followed with the single, advancing to second on a wild pitch. George Mendazona drove them both in with a single to center field. Leitha then doubled, and he and Mendazona both scored on a double from Skyler Nelson. Nelson scored on a groundout from Navarro. The last run of the inning came when Andrus blasted a solo home run over the left field wall.
 
UT Tyler added a couple of runs in the sixth off Valle and scored three more in the top of the seventh off reliever Collin Frondorf, one of which was unearned. Koi Carrillo then came on and got the last out of the game, earning a save in the process.
 
GAME TWO
The nightcap was a much lower scoring affair and almost featured another, much more dramatic comeback by the Chaps.
 
UTT got on the board in the first inning again in this game, using a single, a stolen base and a double to take the lead against LCU starter Shandon Herrera. Herrera allowed two more runs in the third before LCU finally got on the board.
 
The Chaps had a scoring chance in the second inning, as they used three walks to load the bases, but Maddox grounded out to end the threat. Their first run came off the bat of Leitha in the third, as he pulled a pitch down the left field line that just stayed fair and went over the wall for his first home run of the year.  
 
Cade Acrey replaced Herrera on the mound and gave up one run in the fourth, on a little bit of bad luck. The leadoff batter doubled and was sacrificed over to third. While he was there, Acrey got a strikeout, but the ball got away from Navarro, allowing the runner to come home on a strikeout/wild pitch.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, LCU pulled back within one, as Andrus drew a one-out walk and Luis Navarro homered – his third of the season – setting up the dramatic bottom of the seventh. Tate Ellison pinch hit to start the inning and walked. Mendazona then laid down a bunt, but reached on an error from the UTT closer McMillan. Leitha then bunted both over before Merritt McPherson, also pinch-hitting, worked a walk. Nelson came to the plate with a chance to walk things off and hit the ball hard, but right at the Patriot shortstop, and they turned the double play to secure the win.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1.222 | Larry Leitha is leading the Lubbock Christian offense with a .444 average (4-9), but all of his hits have also gone for extra bases for a slugging percentage over 1.000
1-6 | Losing 4-3 in the second half of the doubleheader, the Chaps dropped to 1-6 in one-run ballgames this season
.105 | Lubbock Christian is 0-9 in this series when the bases are loaded in this series and 4-38 with the bases loaded this season for a .105 batting average in those situations
11 | The 11 runs scored by the Chaps in the first game of the doubleheader marked the first time this season they scored double-digit runs
.412 | Mendazona has reached base in six of his 12 plate appearances during this series, pushing his overall on-base percentage above the .400 mark
 
NEXT UP
Lubbock Christian will try and split the series with a win in the series finale on Sunday. Game four will start at 1 p.m.at Hays Field.