LEADING OFF
After a week off for both teams and a winter storm in the state of Texas, Lubbock Christian University and St. Mary's will meet up for a three-game series on the diamond in San Antonio this weekend. Dates for the series have been changed to Feb. 21-22, with a doubleheader scheduled for Sunday and the finale for Monday. The Rattlers were already scheduled to have last weekend off, but the Chaps were forced to postpone their home series with Oklahoma Christian because of COVID-19. Only two LSC series were able to be played, as West Texas A&M got in two wins over Eastern New Mexico and UT Tyler swept Texas A&M International in a three-game series.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE

• Lubbock Christian will be heading to San Antonio to take on St. Mary's for the first time since 2019
• The Rattlers have the third-highest ERA in the conference at 6.50, allowing 42 runs already this year
• Chaps have averaged 1.67 home runs per game, which is tied for the fifth most in NCAA Division II
• LCU hit .357 as a team against UAFS with six starters batting .400 or better in the three games
• Head Coach Nathan Blackwood needs 28 wins to become the winningest coach in LCU history
• The Lubbock Christian 2021 schedule features 16 road contests and 21 to be played at home
• LCU leadoff batters are reaching base at a .449 (22-49) rate so far this year
• StMU opened the year at the same tournament as LCU, going 2-1 at Minute Maid Park

 
I'VE GOT THE POWER
During the 2020 season, the Chaparrals hit just 10 home runs in the 24 games they were able to play. This season, they already have 10 home runs through just six games, ranking third in the nation with 1.67 home runs per game. Three players – Grant Griffin, Cayde Ward and Nolan Machibroda – have already homered multiple times this season, and four others have cleared the fence once. If LCU continues hitting home runs at this pace, they will hit 66 for the season, which is the exact amount hit by the 2019 squad. The Chaps have also hit 10 doubles and two triples, with their current slugging percentage of .492 leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks No. 5 nationally.

AWARD CENTRAL
Since we last saw the Chaps on the diamond, one of their players has claimed an award, as Ty Stephenson was named the Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 8. Stephenson earned the award after a complete-game shutout of UAFS in which he struck out seven batters and allowed just two hits. No Lion hitter even reached third base in the win as LCU run-ruled UAFS 12-0. It is the first weekly award of Stephenson's career.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
With the cancellation of last week's series against Oklahoma Christian, the Chaparrals will not play a home game for the first month of the season, although they are scheduled to play 21 at home overall this year. So far, LCU has played three neutral site games and three on the road at UAFS. In the three true road games, Navarro was LCU's top hitter, batting .636 against the Lions with a 1.000 slugging percentage. The Chap pitching staff has an ERA of 6.04 on the road so far this year.
 
SETTING THE TABLE
Lubbock Christian leadoff batters have done an excellent job of getting on so far this season, reaching base 22 of their 49 chances for a .449 on-base percentage. Eduardo Acosta has hit in the leadoff spot five out of LCU's six games and had nine leadoff chances total, reaching base in four of those (.444 OBP). Cayde Ward has been the most successful at setting the table for those behind him though, going a perfect 4-for-4 in his leadoff opportunities.
 
SOMETHING IN THE AIR
So far this season, Chaparral pitchers have leaned far more heavily on fly ball outs than ground ball outs. So far, 56 outs have been recorded in the air to just 36 on the ground for a flyout to groundout ratio of 1.6. Cannon Davis and Shandon Herrera have been two of the most reliant on flyouts, with Davis recording nine flyouts to one groundout and Herrera getting 11 outs in the air to just one on the ground. The only extreme outlier to this trend is Ty Stephenson, who recorded 12 groundouts to just one flyout in his first start last weekend. Chap pitchers have also struck out 47 batters on the year.
 
FIRST THING'S FIRST
The Chaps have done a good job of getting on opposing pitchers early and getting ahead of their opponent, scoring in the first inning of four of their six games this season. Overall, they have scored 10 runs in the first inning, which is the most of any inning. As a team, they are slugging .714 in the opening frame, collecting three doubles and two home runs. Colin Gordon has scored the most runs in the first inning with three, while Navarro and Machibroda each have three first-inning RBI apiece.
 
NO ONE-HIT WONDERS
Lubbock Christian has already had 11 different multi-hit performances from eight different players this season, after posting only 30 in 24 games a year ago. Griffin and Navarro lead the way with three multi-hit games apiece. Navarro, Gordon (twice) and Mendazona are the only Chaps to have recorded three-hit games so far, and no LCU player has collected four or more hits in a game yet.
 
2000 AND COUNTING
Since the inception of LCU's baseball program in 1971, the Chaparrals have been one of the best baseball teams at whatever level they were playing. Lubbock Christian has played 3,192 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,147 wins and 1,048 losses in that time.
 
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS

• St. Mary's has the third-best batting average in the league at .319 through six games. They have 12 doubles, two triples and four home runs.
• StMU's four wins have come nearly entirely thanks to their offense, as the Rattlers have allowed 6.50 earned runs per game, which is the third-worst in the Lone Star Conference. Opponents are batting .270 against the Rattler staff.
• Rattler infielder Jake Mares leads the league in hits with 13 and is batting .500 on the year, but 12 of his hits have been singles with just one double.
• The last series St. Mary's played was a high-scoring affair against Oklahoma Christian. The Rattlers lost the opener 16-14, won game two 18-7 and took the third game 6-5 in extra innings.
• StMU head coach Charlie Migl has been at the helm of the Rattler program for 34 years, posting an all-time record of 1,220-582-1 in that time. He has led St. Mary's to three NAIA World Series appearances, seven NCAA D-II Regionals and an NCAA D-II National Championship in 2001.

 
THE SERIES WITH THE RATTLERS
Lubbock Christian and St. Mary's first met way back in 1978, while current head coach Migl was a senior and All-District IV selection for the Rattlers. The Chaparrals swept that doubleheader and lead the all-time 24-19. StMU won the series the two teams played last season, taking two out of three games at Hays Field, but LCU won the last series played in San Antonio, which occurred in 2019.