LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (14-17, 12-15 LSC) vs.
UT PERMIAN BASIN (11-18, 8-16 LSC)
Friday, April 23 – 3 p.m.
Roden Field – Odessa, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Coming off a big midweek upset of No. 5 Angelo State, Lubbock Christian University will face their final road test of the 2021 regular season as they head to Odessa for a three-game series against UT Permian Basin. The Chaps have been on a hot streak of late, winning six of their last seven games, including series wins over Eastern New Mexico and Cameron the last two weekends. The Falcons have been trending the opposite direction, losing five of their last six against St. Mary's and Oklahoma Christian. They have shown to have good offensive weapons on the roster this year but not enough pitching to match. UTPB is currently two spots back of the Chaps in 10th place in the league standings.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE

• Junior Lubbock Christian pitcher Armando Valle was named the LSC and NCBWA Pitcher of the Week
• LCU (.296) and UTPB (.297) come into the series with nearly identical team batting averages
• 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 .401 clip, led by Eduardo Acosta's .474 mark
• UT Permian Basin has the third-highest staff ERA in the league at 9.04
• This weekend's series is LCU's last on the road, where they are 6-7 this year
• Right-handed batters are hitting just .257 against LCU's pitching staff
• The Chaps are facing UTPB for the first time since 2016, when they swept a three-game series

 
AWARD CENTRAL
For the second straight week, a Chaparral player earned an award from both the Lone Star Conference and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. This week it was Armando Valle, who earned both the league's and south central region's Pitcher of the Week award. Valle had his second straight solid outing to claim the award, throwing seven innings of shutout ball in a win over Cameron. He allowed just two hits and walked two batters while striking out 12 of the Aggies he faced. This season, Valle has a 5.37 ERA in 52 innings of work, all as a starting pitcher. He has allowed 34 runs on 49 hits and 30 walks. His 66 strikeouts lead the Chaps and are the third-most of any LSC pitcher.
 
MIDWEEK SUCCESS
The Chaps played their first and only midweek game of the 2021 season on Tuesday, going on the road and beating No. 5 Angelo State 5-3 at Foster Field. LCU scored a single run in each of the first five innings while keeping the Rams off the board through the first six. ASU scored twice in the sixth and then loaded the bases and pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth, but Koi Carrillo induced a ground ball for a double play to secure the win.
 
OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS
A major part of Tuesday's road upset was Lubbock Christian's bullpen. The Chaps got a solid three-inning start from Shandon Herrera and then went to the bullpen for the remainder of the contest. Five different pitchers were used across the six innings, with only Cannon Davis throwing multiple frames. On the season, LCU's bullpen has a 4.54 ERA and an opponent's batting average of .255. 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.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
With a hit in the fourth inning of Tuesday's game, Chaparral catcher Luis Navarro has extended his hitting streak to 22 consecutive games. It is the longest hitting streak by an LCU player since Hunter McFall hit in 23 straight games in 2016 and exactly 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, and Colin Gordon has reached base in 14 straight. Acosta also leads the team in multi-hit games (17) and multi-RBI games (eight).
 
ROAD JOURNAL
Lubbock Christian will wrap up its road schedule this weekend with three games against UT Permian Basin. They are 6-7 in true road games this year and 7-9 when including neutral site contests. Edgar Hernandez has the best road batting average at .632 but in only 19 at-bats. Mendazona is second with a .417 average in 36 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.
 
IN THE OUTFIELD
Eight different players have been used to fill the three different outfield positions so far this season, with players and spots changing frequently. Grant Griffin has spent the most time in the outfield, starting 28 games and playing all three positions. Griffin also leads the team with four outfield assists. Trevor Andrus has played the second most games out there, mostly in right and Leitha has played 15 times, all in center field. Edgar Hernandez has recently been thrown into the mix, playing seven games in left field.  
 
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 3,208 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,159 wins and 1,062 losses in that time. Head coach Nathan Blackwood has been leading the program for 969 of those games, going 679-303.
 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS

• The UTPB offense is led by junior infielder Jay DeSoto, who is hitting .390 with an OPS of 1.138 this season. He has 11 doubles, two triples and three home runs
• The Falcons are the third-best team in the conference at drawing walks with 174 this season, which is behind only Angelo State and UT Tyler. Their team on-base percentage of .417 still ranks fifth in the league
• UT Permian Basin is the worst fielding team in the conference, coming into the weekend with a .928 fielding percentage. They have committed 72 errors in 997 chances
• Six different pitchers have made starts for the Falcons this season, led by Trever Berg, who has started nine games. Opponents are batting .304 against their pitching staff as a whole
• Brian Reinke has been the only baseball coach in UT Permian Basin history since their transition to the NCAA in 2006

 
THE SERIES WITH THE FALCONS
Although they have not met on the diamond since 2016, Lubbock Christian and UT Permian Basin have faced off a total of 29 times, with LCU leading the all-time series 26-3. They first met in 2005, with LCU sweeping a four-game series. UTPB got their first win over the Chaps in 2012 and the other two in 2015, which was the last time they beat LCU.