LUBBOCK, Texas (April 1, 2021) – Lubbock Christian built an early 6-0 lead against No. 6 West Texas A&M on Thursday night and battled the Buffs all night, losing 12-11 late at Hays Field.
 
The Chaps dropped to 8-14 on the year and 7-12 in Lone Star Conference play while the league-leading Buffs improved to 22-3 overall and 19-2 in conference play.
 
LCU started off the game about as well as they possible could have in the first inning, as starter Ty Stephenson went three-up, three-down in the top half and then scored six runs in the bottom half. The offensive end of the frame started with three straight Chap walks before Edgar Hernandez doubled in two runs to promptly boot WT starter Zach Dixon from the game. George Mendazona doubled off the new pitcher, Chandler Dean, scoring two more. Trevor Andrus plated the final two runs by crushing his first home run of the year over the left field wall.
 
A theme for the night emerged in the top of the second, as West Texas A&M was able to respond with three runs off Stephenson. Throughout the rest of the night, every time LCU would score, WT would respond with runs in the next half inning. The Chaps did not get a shutdown inning all night.
 
Lubbock Christian added a run in the second on a Luis Navarro single that scored Eduardo Acosta, but WT added three more in the top of the third to make the game 7-6 in favor of the Chaps.
 
Dean settled in after the second and put up three straight scoreless frames, but he was matched by LCU reliever Owen Woodward, who came in to start the fourth inning on the mound and kept the Buffs off the board in the middle third of the games.
 
The Chaps were finally able to push across an insurance run with two outs, as Andrus worked a walk and Nolan Machibroda doubled him home.
 
Again though, the Buffs responded, chasing Woodward from the game and taking a 9-8 lead before Koi Carrillo finally escaped the frame.
 
LCU see-sawed back on top in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a big swing from Navarro. The Chap catcher drilled a ball to straightaway center field, sending it over the batter's eye 400 feet from home plate to put LCU back on top.
 
Kyle Moos led off the top of the eighth with a solo blast to left center, tying the game at 10-10. Carrillo then hit a batter and Cade Acrey came into the game to pitch, but he gave up a walk and a two-RBI double for WT to go back on top.
 
The Chaps were unable to score in the eighth and kept the Buffs off the board in the top of the ninth. In the ninth though, Colin Gordon got on with a leadoff single and Garrett Maas had a pinch-hit, one-out single to put a pair on. A double steal and a WT error allowed Gordon to score and Hedges advanced to third on a groundout, but Caden Hensley struck out to end the game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1.37 | Freshman Owen Woodward allowed three earned runs in his outing for his first earned runs of the season and raising his ERA to 1.37
3 | All of the Buffs' scoring innings featured three runs. They scored three in the second, third, seventh and eighth
.412 | The Chaps had seven hits in 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position, hitting .412 in those scenarios on the night
14 | WT's 14 hits are the second-most allowed in a game by the LCU pitching staff this season
24 | With home runs from Andrus and Navarro, LCU is now tied for the second-most in the conference
 
NEXT UP
LCU will try and even the series when the two teams meet again at 3 p.m. on Friday at Hays Field.