LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (13-17, 12-15 LSC) vs.
ANGELO STATE (24-5, 19-5 LSC)
Tuesday, April 20 – 6 p.m.
Foster Field – San Angelo, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian University will play its first and only midweek game of the 2021 season on Tuesday, heading to San Angelo, Texas to take on No. 5 Angelo State in what will be a non-conference but in-region matchup. It will also be the first road game for LCU since March 28 when they played at St. Edward's. The Chaps and Rams met for a three-game Lone Star Conference series earlier this year at Hays Field with ASU taking two of the three games, despite LCU out-hitting them .324 to .258 for the weekend. Lubbock Christian is coming off a series win against Cameron in which they took the first two of the three games, while Angelo State swept three games from Eastern New Mexico.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE

• Junior Lubbock Christian catcher Luis Navarro is the reigning LSC and NCBWA Hitter of the Week
• Angelo State leads the LSC in batting average at .333 and earned run average at 3.4
• The Chaps have hit 32 home runs this season, which is the second-most in the conference
• LCU leadoff batters are reaching base at a .426 clip, led by Eduardo Acosta's .559 mark
• Angelo State's only series loss so far this season came at West Texas A&M, who leads the LSC
• Tuesday's midweek matchup sparks a four-game road trip for the Chaps before six more games at home
• Right-handed batters are hitting just .252 against LCU's pitching staff
• The Chaps have reached the double-digit hit mark in each of their last six games

 
TO START WITH…
Despite putting their leadoff batter on base in just six of their 25 chances (.240 OBP) in the three-game series against Cameron, Lubbock Christian has put its leadoff batter on at a .408 rate throughout this season. Acosta has done the majority of the leadoff work, batting in the top spot in lineup 24 times this year. He has an on-base percentage of .474 when leading off, having reached in 27 of his 57 chances. George Mendazona leads the team with a .565 leadoff on-base percentage (13-23) and Mason Donohoe has reached in nine of his 17 leadoff chances (.529 OBP). 
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
With hits in all three games against Cameron last weekend, Chaparral catcher Luis Navarro has extended his hitting streak to 21 consecutive games. It is the longest hitting streak by an LCU player since Hunter McFall hit in 23 straight games in 2016 and about halfway to the LCU program record hitting streak of 44 games set by John Harris in 1974. Acosta has hit in eight straight games and reached base in 12 straight, while George Mendazona has reached base in 13 straight contests. Acosta also leads the team in multi-hit games (17) and multi-RBI games (eight).
 
I'VE GOT THE POWER
Lubbock Christian comes into Tuesday's matchup with the fourth-highest slugging percentage in the LSC at .491. They are second in home runs (32), second in triples (19), and third in doubles (66). Acosta leads the team in slugging at .643 with nine doubles, five home runs and a league-leading five triples. Navarro is second in slugging at .636 and leads the team in home runs. Colin Gordon is the LCU and LSC leader in doubles with 13, although he ranks fourth on the team in slugging (.570) behind Donohoe (.571).
 
CATCHING BAD GUYS
The Chaparrals have been the best team in the Lone Star Conference this season at catching runners stealing with a total of 24 on the year. The next-closest team is UT Tyler with 15, and no other LSC team has more than 12. Some of the work has been done by LCU pitchers, but the majority of it has been done by Navarro who has the LSC's individual lead in runners caught stealing with 18. 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 26 in his Chaparral career.
 
A SIGH OF RELIEF
Lubbock Christian has had a solid bullpen this season, getting a 4.54 ERA in 108 innings of work from their relievers. Owen Woodward (1.37) and Logan Ellis (1.00) 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 12 times out of the pen with an ERA of 3.96 and an opponent's batting average of .239. Peyton Hutson has been used 10 times in relief and had his best bullpen outing of the season against Eastern New Mexico, going 4.0 innings with only two hits allowed and a career-high seven strikeouts.
 
TWIN KILLING
LCU's pitching staff ranks No. 26 nationally with 21 double plays turned this season, and the mark is also fourth in the LSC. The Chaps have had Gordon at shortstop every game this season and Caden Hensley has taken over at second base, starting 19 games there. Mendazona has handled the majority of the duties at third base, with Acosta also starting there seven times. LCU's pitching staff has helped out by quite a few more groundouts (247) than they do flyouts (221). Acrey has the most double plays turned behind him this season with four.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
Tuesday's game will be the first on the road for the Chaps in almost a month. They are 5-7 in true road games this year and 6-9 when including neutral site contests. LCU will play just three more road games during the 2021 regular season, traveling to Odessa to face UT Permian Basin this weekend. Edgar Hernandez has the best road batting average at .600 but in only 15 at-bats. Mendazona is second with a .394 average in 33 at-bats. Navarro has the most road RBI with 14, and Owen Woodward has posted a perfect 0.00 road ERA to lead the pitching staff.
 
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 3,207 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,158 wins and 1,062 losses in that time. Head coach Nathan Blackwood has been leading the program for 969 of those games, going 678-303.
 
 
SCOUTING THE RAMS

• Angelo State has spent the entire season ranked in the top 20 of all three national polls. They were ranked No. 1 for most of the season until their only series loss against West Texas A&M two weeks ago
• Outfielder Josh Elvir leads the Ram offense and is second in the Lone Star Conference with a .411 batting average. He has 12 doubles, two triples and eight home runs
• The Rams are a perfect 17-0 on their home field this season. Their last loss at home was on Feb. 29, 2020 when West Texas A&M beat them 8-2
•  Angelo State also has the best fielding percentage in the Lone Star Conference at .977. they have committed just 24 errors in 1,024 chances
• Kevin Brooks is the only skipper Angelo State has ever known, leading them in all 15 years of the program's existence. Earlier this season he captured his 600^th career win as ASU's head coach

 
THE SERIES WITH THE RAMS
Lubbock Christian and Angelo State have been meeting on the diamond since 2010 with ASU leading the all-time series 22-13. Each of the last seven meetings have taken place in Lubbock though. The last time LCU was in San Angelo was in 2019 at the South Central Regional.