LEADING OFF
It was the Lubbock Christian University baseball team that was the last to play a game in the 2019-20 academic year. That isn't so odd on the surface, but the fact that the game occurred on March 12 is quite irregular. The world of collegiate athletics shut down basically while the Chaps were taking on Tarleton State for a doubleheader in Stephenville, Texas, and everything quickly went into lockdown thereafter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020-21 academic year has also been affected by the pandemic, with fall sport seasons pushed to the spring, but baseball is starting on time, with the Chaparrals heading to Houston for three games against three opponents at Minute Maid Park - home of the MLB's Houston Astros.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE
• Lubbock Christian will take on Central Missouri, UAFS and Arkansas Tech this weekend
• This is the eighth straight season for CMU to host an invitational at Minute Maid Park, beginning in 2013
• The Chaps return 20 players from their 2020 roster and have added 14 newcomers for this year
• When the 2020 season was cut short, LCU ranked No. 7 nationally with 126 walks drawn
• Head Coach Nathan Blackwood needs 31 wins to become the winning-est coach in LCU history
• The 40-game schedule features 18 home contests and 19 on the road
• LCU posted a staff ERA of 5.58 last season while batting .271 and scoring 4.41 runs per game
• Only one player - RHP Logan McCrummen - used the NCAA waiver and returned for a 2nd "senior year"
 
TO START WITH…
Lubbock Christian is 13-4 in season-openers in its 17 seasons under head coach Nathan Blackwood, and they have not lost on Opening Day since 2018, when Regis took both ends of a doubleheader 5-0 and 4-1. The last time the Chaps began the season at an invitational was in 2019, when they went 2-1 (wins against Emporia State, Central Oklahoma, loss to Missouri Southern) at the Edmond 1^st Pitch Invitational. In last year's season-opener, which came on the road at St. Edward's, LCU got down 1-0 in the first inning and it stayed that way until the ninth when they scored three unanswered runs, giving Logan McCrummen the win in relief.
 
AT THE HELM
The skipper for the 2021 Chaparral baseball season is the same one it's been the last 17 – Nathan Blackwood. The Lubbock native and 1995 LCU graduate enters his 18^th year leading the Chaps with a 665-286 all-time record. He needs 31 wins to overtake College Baseball Hall of Fame member Larry Hays as the winningest coach in program history, 35 wins to get to 700  and 51 games coached to reach the milestone of 1000. Assisting Blackwood is hitting coach Hector Limon and pitching coach Jermaine Van Buren, who are both in their second seasons. Limon played for the Chaps in the 1980s before teaching and coaching at the high school level for more than 20 years. Van Buren was a professional pitcher and eventually reached the MLB with the Cubs and Red Sox before entering the coaching ranks.
 
FAMILIAR FACES
The Chaps return 20 players from their roster a season ago. The top five hitters by total bases are back, including Larry Leitha, George Mendazona, Luis Navarro, Jaxon Shirley and Trevor Andrus. The trio of Leitha, Mendazona and Navarro combined for 45 RBI last season, which was 49 percent of the team total. Furthermore, five of the top six pitchers by innings pitch return, including Ty Stephenson, Armando Valle, Cade Acrey, Shandon Herrera and Logan McCrummen. Stephenson and Valle pitched exclusively in the starting role last year with 42 and 37 strikeouts, respectively, while Acrey, Herrera and McCrummen all appeared in both starting and relieving roles.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
There are 14 newcomers to the Lubbock Christian baseball roster for the 2021 season, including a number of players Blackwood will be calling upon to make an impact right away. Nolan Machibroda (1B), Eduardo Acosta (2B) and Colin Gordon (SS) are all expected to be starting position players on Opening Day. Machibroda is an NAIA transfer and Gordon comes to LCU from Division I Louisiana Monroe, while Acosta joins the roster after two years at Kansas City CC. Bolstering the pitching staff are transfers Tyler Hardwick (NMMI), Cannon Davis (UTRGV) and Peyton Hutson (MC), as well as a couple of freshmen.
 
WORK TO BE DONE
In the 2021 Lone Star Conference Preseason Poll, which reflects the opinions of LSC head coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives throughout the region, Lubbock Christian was picked to finish eighth in the league this year. They received 212 points in the preseason poll overall, while Angelo State was picked first with 428 points. This is the second year that the Chaps will be competing in the Lone Star Conference.
 
NEUTRAL
The three neutral site games to open up the season are the only three scheduled for Lubbock Christian this season. They did not play a single neutral site game during the 2020 season, and they struggled in neutral games in 2019, with just one win to five losses.
 
A LOOK BACK…
LCU started off the 2020 season on the right note, winning a series on the road at St. Edward's two games to one. The Chaps were only able to claim one more series win in the other five full series that they played in though, posting a 7-17 overall record when the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They hit .241 as a team with an on-base percentage of .364. The pitching staff had an overall ERA of 5.58 in 193.2 innings on the mound, holding opponents to a .271 average. One of their biggest problems the Chaps had was in one-run ballgames, of which they played eight last year, going 1-7 in those contests.
 
FURTHER BACK…
The 2021 season is the 51^st in the history of the Lubbock Christian baseball program, dating back to 1971, when Larry Hays re-started a program that had gone defunct during the school's junior college days. Hays led the program into the spotlight quickly, getting to the NAIA World Series for the first time in 1977. The Chaps made four more World Series appearances under Hays, winning a National Championship in 1983. Jimmy Shankle followed Hays as head coach and had a 1991 WS appearance. He was succeeded by Daren Hays, who had a .685 winning percentage in his seven years at the helm. Bobby Sherrard spent two years at the helm, before Blackwood took over. They went to the WS four more times under Blackwood, winning the title again in 2009 before transitioning to the NCAA in 2013. Since the transition, they have won three conference titles and reached the NCAA Regional three times as well. All-time Lubbock Christian is 2,144-1,045 (.672).
 
SCOUTING THE MULES

• Central Missouri is well-regarded coming into the 2021 season, ranking No. 2 in the Perfect Game preseason poll and No. 5 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (coaches) preseason poll.
• Kyle Crookes is at the helm of the Mule baseball program for the seventh year, posting an overall record of 210-91 (.698) in that time. In 2019, Crookes led UCM to a third-place finish at the Division II National Championship.
• Erik Webb returns to the outfield for the 2021 season. In his last full season (2019) he hit .410 with 26 doubles, five triples and 21 home runs. He is hitting .360 for his career.
• Mules' pitching staff did lose their top hurler, Jonathan Sprinkle, as he signed with the Astros after striking out 43 batters in 23.1 innings a season ago.
• UCM has a long history of baseball success in the NCAA, claiming 18 regional titles as well as national championships in 1994 and 2003.

 
THE SERIES WITH THE MULES
Lubbock Christian and Central Missouri will be meeting on the diamond for the first time ever.