LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (8-12, 7-10 LSC) vs.
ST. EDWARD'S (6-12, 6-11 LSC)
Sunday, March 28 – 1 p.m.
Lucian Hamilton Field – Austin, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
After a wild, come-from-behind win that didn't end until 11 innings had been played on Saturday, Lubbock Christian has a chance to steal a series on the road on Sunday. The Chaps and Hilltoppers are currently tied at a game apiece. After St. Edwards won the Friday afternoon matchup. LCU has hit the ball well throughout the series with a .284 batting average in two games, and they will need to be good again on Sunday for a Chap series victory.
 
STARTING PITCHING MATCHUP
LCU – Left-hander Armando Valle will head to the mound, making his team-leading seventh start of the 2021 season. He currently boasts a 6.91 earned run average in 28 and two thirds innings of work. He has allowed those earned runs on 28 hits and 18 walks while leading the team and ranking eighth in the Lone Star Conference with 34 strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .259 against the Puerto Rico native, and he has given up only 11 extra-base hits. Valle pitched against St. Edward's in 2020 and struggled, going only two innings while allowing five runs on five hits and two walks on Feb. 2. He has been particularly good against right-handed batters this season, allowing just 18 hits in 82 at-bats (.220 BA).
 
SEU – Wesley Gafford is the likely candidate to start the game on the mound for the Hilltoppers, who have used the Georgetown, Texas native five times already this year. A righty, Gafford has made two starts and three appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 3.06 ERA in 17.2 innings of work. He has allowed eight runs on 17 hits with three walks and nine strikeouts in that time Opponents are hitting .246 against him. In his last start against St. Mary's, Gafford went a career-high seven innings, allowing just three runs on seven hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5 | Edgar Hernandez got just his second start of the year on Saturday and took advantage, matching LCU's program record for hits with five. Three of those hits went for doubles, which also tied the program record
.500 | LCU's leadoff batter reached in six of the 11 innings on Saturday and four of Friday's nine innings, giving them an on-base percentage of .500 in those situations this weekend
18 | Nolan Machibroda has drawn two walks in the series, including one that led to the game-tying run on Saturday. He now has 18 on the season, which is tied for the sixth-most in the LSC
.484 | With two hits and two walks (one intentional) in six plate appearances, Chap catcher Luis Navarro raised his team-leading on-base percentage up to .484
2.79 | LCU's bullpen was dominant on Saturday, with Owen Woodward, Koi Carrillo and Cade Acrey combining to allow no earned runs in six innings of work. Chap relievers have allowed just three earned runs this weekend for a bullpen ERA of 2.79