LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (8-13, 7-11 LSC) vs.
WEST TEXAS A&M (21-3, 18-2 LSC)
Thursday, April 1 – 6 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian University returns home to Hays Field this weekend and for the second time this season they will be hosting a top ten team as West Texas A&M comes to town for a three-game series. The Chaparrals are coming off a road series loss at St. Edward's last weekend, taking one of the three games. LCU's one win in the series was an exciting one, as they came back from down four runs in the eighth and ninth innings before winning the game in the 11th. The Buffs are coming off a three-game sweep of St. Mary's at their home field in Canyon and are riding an 11-game hit streak overall. They last lost 3-2 on March 5 at UT Tyler, and they are ranked in the top 10 in all three national polls.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE

• Lubbock Christian will be facing WT for the first time since April 23, 2019, when the Chaps won 6-0
• West Texas A&M is second in the Lone Star Conference with a 3.66 ERA and leads with 240 strikeouts
• Chap relievers have posted an ERA of 4.15 in 82 and a third innings of work this season
• LCU leadoff batters are reaching base at a .398 clip, including a .483 OBP at St. Edward's
• On 3/27, Edgar Hernandez went 5-6 with three doubles, matching LCU's record for hits and doubles
• This weekend starts a nine-game LCU homestand, and they have 12 games left at Hays Field this season
• Right-handed batters are hitting just .256 against LCU's pitching staff
• LCU is hitting .273 as a team, led by Luis Navarro's .364 batting average

 
SETTING THE TABLE
Despite losing two of the three games in the series against St. Edward's, Lubbock Christian put its leadoff batter on in 14 of the 29 innings played for a .483 on-base percentage. For the season, the Chaps have put their leadoff batter on at a .398 clip, seeing the first batter in the inning reach base 74 times in 186 chances. Eduardo Acosta has seen the most leadoff plate appearances, batting in the No 1 spot in 15 of LCU's 21 games, and he is reaching base at a .371 clip in leadoff opportunities. Hernandez has been perfect in his three leadoff opportunities, while George Mendazona and Mason Donohoe have been exceptional as well, reaching base at .632 and .571 clips, respectively.
 
SIGH OF RELIEF
The Chaparral bullpen has been solid this season, posting an ERA of 4.15 in 82.1 innings of work this season. They were great against the Hilltoppers last weekend with an ERA of 2.51 in 14.1 innings in Austin. Cade Acrey has been the most frequently used reliever with nine appearances, posting a 3.00 ERA and a .194 opponent's batting average in 18.0 innings of work. Freshman Owen Woodward has also been great out of the pen, allowing no earned runs on 11 hits with 14 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. Logan Ellis (2.0 IP) and Koi Carrillo (1.0 IP) also pitched out of the bullpen against St. Edward's without allowing an earned run.
 
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
LCU has been the best team in the Lone Star Conference this season at catching runners stealing with a total of 21 on the year. The next-closest team is Arkansas-Fort Smith with 11, and no other LSC team has reached double-digits. Some of the work has been done by LCU pitchers, but the majority of it has been done by catcher Luis Navarro, who has the LSC's individual lead in runners caught stealing with 15. Twice this season, Navarro has caught three runners in a single game, which has tied the school record. He caught eight runners last year, giving him 23 in his Chaparral career.
 
STREAKING STARS
Four Lubbock Christian players have hitting streaks of three games or longer, including Luis Navarro (5), Colin Gordon (4) Acosta (3), and Caden Hensley (3). Navarro is LCU's leading hitter on the season, batting .364 on the year with a .545 slugging percentage, while Acosta is batting .333 and Gordon .294. Hensley has come on in the last three weeks, batting .290 since being moved into the starting lineup on March 5. He also has a 10-game reached-base streak, which is the longest by a Chap this year. Mendazona has reached base in eight straight games, moving his batting average up to .298 and his on-base percentage to a team-second .432.
 
MIX 'N MATCH
Although the infield has been relatively steady so far this season, eight different players have filled the three outfield spots for the Chaps. No outfielder has played every game in the outfield this season. Grant Griffin has played the most (20 games), but he has also been moved around the most playing 10 games in center field, six in right and four in left. He has made two errors this season but is also the only outfielder with two assists. Larry Leitha has played the most games in center field with 11 but has missed some time this year and Trevor Andrus has played right field 10 times, but did not start a game at SEU. Acosta has played five games in left field and two in right, and Donohoe has played seven in left field and seven at DH. No other Chap players have more than three appearances in the outfield.
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
This weekend's games will be seven through nine of 21 scheduled homes games for the Chaps this season. Originally dedicated on April 29, 1978 as Chaparral Stadium, the complex was renamed Hays Field in 1999 to honor the L.D., Pearl, Larry, and Daren Hays families for their dedication and commitment to the ideals and values of Lubbock Christian University. The playing dimensions of Hays Field measure 340 feet down the lines, 380 feet to the power alleys, and 400 feet to straight away center. LCU is 2-4 on their own turf this year and the program is 1,109-330 in home games all-time.
 
NO ONE-HIT WONDERS
Lubbock Christian has already had 60 different multi-hit performances from 13 different players this season, after posting only 30 in 24 games a year ago. Acosta leads the way 11 multi-hit games so far this year, while Navarro has eight and Gordon has six. Hernandez had the team's first five-hit game of the season (matching the LCU program record) on March 27 against St. Edward's.
 
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 3,201 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,153 wins and 1,058 losses in that time. Head coach Nathan Blackwood has been leading the program for 969 of those games, going 673-299.
 
SCOUTING THE BUFFS

• West Texas A&M has had the luxury of playing most of their games so far this season at home, where they are 14-1. They have been good on the road as well, posting a 7-2 record
• The Buffs rank second in the LSC in batting average (.328) earned run average (3.66) and fielding percentage (.969) trailing Angelo State in all three of those categories
• WT leads both the LSC and all of Division II in triples this season with 24. The next-closest team to them is CSU-Pueblo with 12
• The Buffs also rank No. 4 nationally steals (60) and No. 5 in both hits (265) and runs (239)
• Opponents are hitting just .242 against the West Texas A&M pitching staff, which is the lowest mark in the LSC

 
THE SERIES WITH THE BUFFS
Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M first met all the way back in March of 1971, which was LCU's first official baseball season. The Chaps swept that doubleheader and lead the all-time series against the Buffs 45-19. WT ended their baseball program after 1972 and did not bring it back until the 1990s. The teams did not meet last season, but split two midweek games in 2019.