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Softball Chris Due (chris.due@lcu.edu)

Stretched Out Sunday Play in Canyon Awaits Lady Chaps

LCU Takes a Six-Game Win Streak into Sunday's Action at WT Invitational

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CANYON, Texas (February 21, 2021) – No.25 Lubbock Christian University closes out play in the WT Invitational, hosted by West Texas A&M, Sunday with a long day of softball. They open the day at 10 a.m. facing Fort Lewis and then sticking around for a scheduled 6 p.m. first pitch against Colo. Colorado Springs (UCCS) at Schaeffer Park.  
WT Invitational
OPPONENT LOCATION CITY TIME WATCH STATS LCU STATS OPP. STATS
Ft. Lewis Schaeffer Park  Canyon, Texas 10 a.m.  Watch Stats Season Season
UCCS Schaeffer Park  Canyon, Texas 6 p.m. Watch Stats Season Season

WUNDERGROUND WEATHER: Abundant sunshine. High 47F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

WATCH ONLINE: LSC Digital Network (Online or via OTT apps including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Roku devices by searching "LSC Digital Network.")


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LCU and FLC Series Snapshot
  • LCU and the Skyhawks are meeting for the fifth time all-time and for the second time this season (LCU owns a 4-0 record in the series).
  • All four prior meetings have been in neutral site games, with a 2016 meeting and Friday's meeting played in Canyon, Texas.
  • Prior to Friday's 8-2 win by LCU over FLC, the previous meeting was four years ago on Feb. 19, 2017, in Tucson, Ariz. (LCU winning 8-2).  
 
LCU and UCCS Series Snapshot
  • LCU leads the all-time series over UCCS, 3-1.
  • UCCS won the prior meeting 2-0, which was Feb. 16, 2020 in Edmond, Okla.
    • Braelyne Crenshaw had the complete game shutout in the circle for UCCS, while Taylor Franco allowed one earned run off five Mountain Lion hits for LCU.
    • Brooke Makemson was 2-for-3 for LCU.
  • LCU went 6-1 last season against RMAC squads, with the Feb. 16 loss to UCCS as the lone loss.
 
Invitational Notes
  • LCU has four games scheduled for the weekend in Canyon, Texas.
    • Friday, LCU defeated Colorado School of Mines 2-0 and followed with an 8-2 win over Fort Lewis.
  • Tyla Lee and Athena Muniz are each 3-for-6 (.500) at the invitational this season. Muniz has two RBI.
  • LCU is hitting .333 at the event, with a 11-1 advantage in RBI. The Lady Chaps have a 19-8 advantage in hits. In the circle, LCU has a 0.00 ERA and they are holding the opposition to a .163 average.
  • Skylar Herrera is 3-for-7 (.429) in the event with two home runs and seven RBI.
  • The Lady Chaps last appeared in the WT Invitational in 2016, going 3-2 at the event. They went 2-0 against RMAC programs and 1-2 against LSC programs, as LCU was a Heartland Conference member in 2016.
 
How is the Team Doing?
  • LCU is 7-2 this season and entering Sunday's play riding a six-game win streak.
  • LCU's only losses of the season came Jan. 30 in Pensacola, Fla., as they fell 2-1 and 7-1 to West Florida.
  • The Lady Chaps are hitting .325 as a team (20th nationally), with nine home runs (second nationally) and 43 RBI in seven games. LCU averages 5.4 runs a contest.
  • In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 1.07 (12th nationally). Opponents are hitting .174 against LCU this season and the team has four shutouts (second nationally).
  • On the field, LCU ranks 25th nationally, with a conference-leading .971 fielding percentage.
 
Who is Doing What?
  • Pitcher Taylor Franco is 4-1 this season with a 0.00 ERA in 34.1 innings pitched (also has a save). She has four complete games (co-leads nationally) and 20 strikeouts (23rd nationally). Opponents are hitting .134 against Franco, who is 25-11 in her LCU career. She is one of four pitchers nationally to appear in five games this season. Her three wins ranks tied for second nationally. Franco opens the week with a 0.78 WHIP, ranking ninth nationally.
  • Brooke Makemson leads LCU, hitting .458 on the season. She has four home runs and 13 RBI on the season (both categories leads the nation), and was named NFCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 9 after hitting .692 (9-for-13) at the LCU Invitational.
  • Savannah Wysocki is also hitting over .400 on the season (.406), with a team-leading 13 hits (ranks eighth nationally). She has a seven stolen bases on the season as well (co-leads nationally). Wysocki has one triple this season, placing her with 13 in her LCU career.
 
Season Expectations
  • The Lady Chaps are preseason picked to finish sixth in the Lone Star Conference.
  • LCU is in their seventh season playing a NCAA Division II schedule (2013 was their last season in NAIA) and this is their second season as members of the Lone Star Conference.
  • There are 16 softball programs in the LSC this season.
 
Neutralizing Things
  • LCU is 3-0 in neutral site games this season.
  • Last season, LCU was 5-2 in neutral site games.
  • Savannah Wysocki is 6-for-12 (.500) in neutral site contests this season with two RBI.
  • Taylor Franco is 2-0 in neutral site starts in the circle, with a 0.00 ERA in 14 innings pitched. She has 16 strikeouts and two complete games (opponents hitting .170).
  
Coach Talk
  • LCU head coach Daren Hays is in his 11th season at the helm of the Lady Chaps.
  • Hays is LCU's winningest softball head coach, entering Saturday with a softball record of 425-130.
  • Along with surpassing 300 coaching wins in softball, Hays had surpassed 300 wins as a collegiate baseball head coach. He spent eight seasons as the LCU baseball head coach and compiled a 356-163 record.
 
National Notes
  • LCU opened the season ranked No.19 in the NFCA Top 25 Preseason Poll.
  • The Lady Chaps have dropped to No.25 this week, which was the first in-season poll of the season.
  • The Lady Chaps went 8-0 last season against nationally ranked programs.
 
Looking at FLC
  • The Skyhawks went 11-11 last season, and they were 8-4 in RMAC play at season's close.
  • FLC opens the season in the WT Invitational for the first time since the 2017 season. They went 1-4 that season at the event, going 0-2 against LSC programs.
  • Fort Lewis College is picked sixth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
  • The RMAC Preseason Players to Watch list included Brianna Leavell and Mandy Lorenson.  Leavell was a two-way player for FLC in 2020, leading the pitching staff with a 5-3 record and 3.69 ERA, while also batting a team-high .422 with three home runs and 23 RBI over their 22 games played.
  • FLC went 0-2 to open the season Friday, falling 3-1 to UCCS and 8-2 to LCU. They face LCU and WT Sunday.
 
Looking at UCCS
  • The Mountain Lions went 10-13 last season, and they were 6-6 in the RMAC before the season's cancellation (3-5 in neutral site play).
  • UCCS has not appeared at the WT Invitational since 2018, as they went 1-3 at the event that season (went 0-2 against West Texas A&M and 1-1 against Texas A&M International).
  • UCCS is picked fifth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
  • The Mountain Lions had three players named RMAC Preseason Players to Watch (Meghan Waidler, Braelyn Crenshaw and Brianna Santos).
  • UCCS is 1-1 this season after opening the season Friday. They opened with a 3-1 win over Fort Lewis before falling 19-0 in five innings to WT.
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Players Mentioned

Taylor Franco

#72 Taylor Franco

RHP
5' 7"
Junior
Skylar Herrera

#25 Skylar Herrera

INF
5' 11"
Sophomore
Tyla Lee

#44 Tyla Lee

3B/OF
5' 3"
Senior
Brooke Makemson

#21 Brooke Makemson

INF
5' 6"
Senior
Athena Muniz

#4 Athena Muniz

RHP/OF
5' 4"
Senior
Savannah Wysocki

#22 Savannah Wysocki

OF
5' 5"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Taylor Franco

#72 Taylor Franco

5' 7"
Junior
RHP
Skylar Herrera

#25 Skylar Herrera

5' 11"
Sophomore
INF
Tyla Lee

#44 Tyla Lee

5' 3"
Senior
3B/OF
Brooke Makemson

#21 Brooke Makemson

5' 6"
Senior
INF
Athena Muniz

#4 Athena Muniz

5' 4"
Senior
RHP/OF
Savannah Wysocki

#22 Savannah Wysocki

5' 5"
Junior
OF