LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (3-6, 2-4 LSC) vs.
NO. 1 ANGELO STATE (9-1, 5-1 LSC)
Thursday, March 5 – 6 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Following losses in three games at St. Mary's in their most recent series, Lubbock Christian University came home for a weekend off, getting to look ahead at their opponent for the weekend of March 5. That weekend is now here, and the Chaparrals get to welcome the No. 1 team in the nation in Angelo State. This is the second time this season LCU has faced off with a team ranked in the top five nationally, as they opened play this year with No. 2 Central Missouri. The Chaps come into the series with a 3-6 overall record, including a 2-4 showing in LSC play. The Rams are currently 9-1 on the year and 5-1 in league action.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE

• Lubbock Christian will be hosting Angelo State for the second straight year
• Angelo State leads the conference with a .384 batting average and a .573 slugging percentage
• Chap pitchers have a WHIP of just 1.44, which is the third-best mark in the Lone Star Conference
• LCU has drawn 34 walks this season and has a team on-base percentage of .335
• 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 .368 (28-76) rate so far this year
• Three of ASU's wins this year have come against Wayland Baptist (NAIA) and one against McMurry (D3)

 
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Chaps have done a good job of getting on opposing pitchers early, scoring in the first inning of four of their nine 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 .590 in the opening frame, collecting four 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.
 
LEADING LATE
LCU has just one win this year when trailing after six innings (Feb. 6 at UAFS), but they are 2-1 when leading after the fourth inning or later. The Chaps have scored just 10 runs in the last three innings of play combined this season, and five of those came in the seventh inning of the Feb. 6 game, which LCU came back to win 6-1. On the flip side, the Chaps have been good at not coughing up a lead late themselves. The bullpen has been good, but not great, holding opponents to a .275 batting average and posting a 5.34 ERA in 30.1 innings of work. Freshman reliever Owen Woodward has been an early-season bright spot for the Chaps, allowing just four hits and no earned runs with six strikeouts in three appearances.
 
RING 'EM UP
Lubbock Christian checks in at third in the Lone Star Conference in strikeout to walk ratio with a mark of 2.09, despite ranking seventh in the league in strikeouts per nine innings with 8.5 per game. As a whole, the team has 67 strikeouts and just 32 walks. Armando Valle leads the team in strikeouts with 15, but he has also walked 10 batters on the year. Shandon Herrera has nine Ks this season and just one walk, and Cade Acrey has also struck out eight while issuing just one free pass.
 
POWER SURGE
Although they hit just one home run in the series at St. Mary's, Lubbock Christian has been much keener on the long ball this year than they were a season ago. They have 11 home runs through the first nine games, leading the LSC and having already surpassed their total of 10 in all 24 games of the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The homers have been spread throughout the lineup too. George Mendazona had the solo shot against the Rattlers, tying for the team lead with two on the season. Nolan Machibroda, Cayde Ward and Grant Griffin all have two apiece as well, while Colin Gordon, Luis Navarro and Eduardo Acosta all have one apiece. If the Chaps continue at their current pace and play all 40 games scheduled, they would end the regular season with 48 home runs.
 
SOMETHING IN THE AIR
So far this season, Chaparral pitchers have leaned far more heavily on fly ball outs than ground ball outs. Overall, 76 outs have been recorded in the air to just 58 on the ground for a flyout to groundout ratio of 1.3. Cannon Davis and Shandon Herrera have been two of the most reliant on flyouts, with Davis recording 11 flyouts to two groundouts and Herrera getting 17 outs in the air to just seven on the ground. The only extreme outlier to this trend is Ty Stephenson, who has 18 groundouts and just two outs in the air. Using the air for outs could be an advantage in Friday night's matchup especially, as high wind speeds – blowing in at Hays Field – are predicted. Chap pitchers have also struck out 67 batters on the year.
 
THE FRIENDLY CONFINES
This weekend's games will be the first three 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 went 2-9 last season on their own turf, and the program is 1,107-326 in home games all-time.
 
NO ONE-HIT WONDERS
Lubbock Christian has already had 16 different multi-hit performances from 10 different players this season, after posting only 30 in 24 games a year ago. Griffin, Gordon 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 1,051 losses in that time. Head coach Nathan Blackwood has been leading the program for 960 of those games, going 668-292. He needs 28 wins to surpass Larry Hays and become the all-time winningest coach in program history.  
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS

• Angelo State is ranked No. 1 in both of the current Division II national top-25 polls. They were also picked first in the LSC Preseason Poll, receiving 428 points and 23 first-place votes.
• The Rams are led offensively by outfielder Josh Elvir, who recently became the program's all-time home run leader. He was also named to the 2021 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason watch list, which is given to the top amateur baseball player in the country.
• Head coach Kevin Brooks is the only skipper Angelo State has ever known, leading the program from its inception in 2005. He recently won his 600^th career game as the team's head coach.
• ASU pitcher Benjamin Elder is coming off an LSC Pitcher of the Week selection after pitching a complete-game shutout against St. Mary's. Preseason Pitcher of the Year Trent Baker is also on the staff, which features an overall ERA of 3.84.
• Angelo State currently has the best offense in the league with a .384 batting average. .533 on-base percentage and .573 slugging percentage.

 
THE SERIES WITH THE RAMS
Lubbock Christian and Angelo State first met on the diamond in 2010, and they have faced off every year since 2013, with ASU leading the all-time series 20-12. The 2020 season marked the first time that the Rams ever won a series in Lubbock, as they swept four games in February. The Chaps will be looking to end a five-game losing streak against ASU, dating back to the 2019 South Central Regional.