LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (11-16, 10-14 LSC) vs.
CAMERON (4-22, 4-16 LSC)
Friday, April 16 – 6 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
For the first time this season, Lubbock Christian University is riding a three-game winning streak after a series sweep against Eastern New Mexico. The Chaparrals will now turn their attention to Cameron, who enters the weekend with just four wins on the season to 22 losses. The Aggies are struggling late especially, having lost their last nine games in a row, with their last win coming by a score of 8-7 against Arkansas Fort Smith on March 26. It will be a three-game series over two days for the second weekend in a row for LCU, as they host the series opener Friday night before playing a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE

• Junior Lubbock Christian catcher Luis Navarro was named the LSC and NCBWA Hitter of the Week
• Cameron's Jayce Clem currently ranks No. 5 in the LSC with a .388 batting average
• Allowing just eight runs in the series against ENMU, the Chaps lowered their staff ERA to 5.80
• LCU leadoff batters are reaching base at a .426 clip, including a .727 OBP vs. Eastern New Mexico
• Kyle Williams is in his 2nd season as the CU head coach after spending on year as the assistant
• This weekend's series will wrap up a nine-game LCU homestand. Chaps have six more games at home
• Right-handed batters are hitting just .270 against LCU's pitching staff
• LHP Armando Valle had the first nine-inning complete game of the season for LCU on April 9

 
AWARD CENTRAL
It's been a busy week for Lubbock Christian junior catcher Luis Navarro, as the Panama native claimed the Lone Star Conference Hitter of the Week award and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association South Central Region Hitter of the Week award. Navarro hit .733 with 17 total bases and eight RBI in the three-game sweep of ENMU to claim the award. On Saturday, he matched LCU's program record for hits in a single game twice, collecting five in each end of a doubleheader. He is the second Chap honored with a conference player of the week award this season, and the first LCU player recognized by the NCBWA since Chandler Casey was named the region's Pitcher of the Week on May 1, 2019.
 
SETTING THE TABLE
Across the three games against Eastern New Mexico last weekend, Lubbock Christian put their leadoff batter on base an incredible 16 times out of the 22 total innings they came to bat for an on-base percentage of .727. On the whole this season, Chap batters have an on-base percentage of .426 when leading off an inning. Eduardo Acosta has the most leadoff opportunities (52) because he has batted in the leadoff spot in the order 21 times this year, and he is reaching at a .462 clip. George Mendazona has the highest on-base percentage when leading off an inning at .591.
 
POWER UP
After posting a .717 slugging percentage in the ENMU series, Lubbock Christian has raised its overall slugging mark to .477, which is the fourth-best in the Lone Star Conference. They are also third in the league in total bases with 444. The Chaps have hit 58 doubles, 13 triples and 31 home runs, with all three totals ranking third or better in the league. Navarro leads the team with his .657 slugging percentage and six home runs. Acosta is also slugging above the .600 mark and leads the team with four triples. Colin Gordon is slugging .533 and leads the LSC in doubles with 12 this year.
 
KING-PEN
Lubbock Christian has had a solid bullpen this season, getting a 4.42 ERA in 108 innings of work from their relievers. Owen Woodward (1.37) and Logan Ellis (1.29) both have sub-2.00 ERAs in relief, although Woodward has recently moved into a starting role. Cade Acrey has been the most-used reliever, throwing 11 times out of the pen with an ERA of 4.50 and an opponent's batting average of .250. Peyton Hutson has been used nine times in relief and had his best bullpen outing of the season last weekend, going 4.0 innings with only two hits allowed and a career-high seven strikeouts.
 
TWIN KILLING
LCU's pitching staff ranks No. 14 nationally with 21 double plays turned this season, and the mark is also fourth in the LSC. The Chaps have had Colin Gordon at shortstop every game this season and Caden Hensley has taken over at second base, starting 16 games there. George Mendazona had handled the majority of the duties at third base. LCU's pitching staff has helped out by quite a few more groundouts (227) than they do flyouts (195). Acrey has the most double plays turned behind him this season with four.
 
 FRIENDLY CONFINES
Including this weekend, Lubbock Christian has nine home games left on the 2021 schedule. 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 5-7 on their own turf this year and the program is 1,112-333 in home games all-time.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
Navarro comes into the weekend riding an 18-game hitting streak, which is the longest by a Chap player since Tony Reyes also hit in 18 straight games in 2017. If he gets a hit in the series opener against Cameron, it will be the longest streak since Hunter McFall hit in 23 straight games in the 2016 season. No other LCU player has a hitting streak of more than five games, but Hensley has reached base in 16 straight games, Mendazona in 14 straight and Gordon in 10 straight. Acosta leads the team with 14 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games. Navarro is the only other player with double-digit (12) multi-hit games.
 
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 3,204 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,156 wins and 1,061 losses in that time. Head coach Nathan Blackwood has been leading the program for 969 of those games, going 676-302.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES

• Despite Jayce Clem's .388 batting average (fifth in the LSC), the Aggies have the third-lowest team batting average in the conference at .245
• Cameron's staff ERA of 9.15 is the second-worst in the conference (behind ENMU at 9.70) but the pitcher's do have swing-and-miss stuff with 219 strikeouts (fifth in the LSC) this year
• Clem has also been solid on the mound this year, posting one save and the best opponent's batting average (.236) of any CU pitcher
• Marcos Feria, Michael Womack and Tyler Cornett are the likely rotation for Cameron this weekend. Feria is the best of the bunch with a 6.35 ERA and a team-leading 49 strikeouts
• Beau Williams is the only Cameron batter besides Clem with his average above the .300 mark, hitting .309 with a .424 on-base percentage

 
THE SERIES WITH THE AGGIES
Lubbock Christian and Cameron have only met 13 times on the diamond in the history of the two programs, with the Chaps leading the all-time series 11-2. They first met in 1976, when LCU swept a four-game series, and the Chaps swept four games again in 1981. The first Aggie win came in 2016, and CU won the opener of a four-game series in 2019 before the Chaps came back to take the next three and the series.