LUBBOCK, Texas (April 9, 2021) – Junior left-handed pitcher Armando Valle pitched a complete-game shutout on Friday night, beating Eastern New Mexico 8-0 in the series-opener at Hays Field.
 
Valle kept the Greyhounds (6-19, 6-19) off balance all night, allowing just six hits and walking only two batters to help the Chaps improve to 9-16 overall and 8-14 in Lone Star Conference play. It was the second complete-game shutout of the year but the first of nine innings, and it was the first complete-game shutout of his LCU career.
 
 It was a pitcher's duel early in the contest, with Greyhound starter Josh Lewis matching Valle with four scoreless frames to start. Eastern New Mexico even threatened to take a lead a couple of times early, putting two runners on base in the first and loading the bases in the third, but Valle worked out of both jams.
 
In the top of the fifth, Valle got two quick outs, but Trevor Moses reached second for the Greyhounds on an LCU error. ENMU got a single to center field to follow, but Grant Griffin made a strong throw to the plate to cut down Moses.
 
Finally, in the bottom half of the fifth LCU's offense broke through. Caden Hensley got on base with one out and Luis Navarro singled to follow. George Mendazona then followed with a double down the right field line to score two and give Valle a lead.
 
Hensley singled in an insurance run in the sixth and Navarro scored on a wild pitch after reaching via an error in the bottom of the seventh to push the lead out to 4-0 as Valle continued to blow past the ENMU batters on the mound. The Puerto Rico native did not allow a hit in the sixth, seventh or eighth innings.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, LCU broke the game open against reliever Alex Kuhn. Back-to-back singles by Eduardo Acosta and Hensley started the frame, but Kuhn got the next two Chap batters. Edgar Hernandez the singled in one run and Colin Gordon singled in another. A second ENMU pitching change didn't even stop the Chaps, as Nolan Machibroda doubled to score two more.
 
The large cushion allowed Valle to go back out and finish what he started. He gave up a leadoff single and had a runner on second but struck out a batter looking to close out the frame. He ended the game with 131 pitches, 85 of which were for strikes.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
14 | Valle's 14 strikeouts set a new career-high and were the most by an LCU pitcher since Feb. 24, 2012 when Tyler Rogers had 14 against Oklahoma Christian
16 | Chap catcher Luis Navarro had one hit in four at-bats, extending his hit streak to 16 games. Colin Gordon also pushed his hit streak to eight games
18 | Navarro also caught another runner stealing in the game, increasing his league-leading total to 18 for the season
.327 | Caden Hensley was 2-for-4 at the plate to raise his batting average to .327, which is the fourth-best mark on the team
.403 | Lubbock Christian put their leadoff batter on in five of the eight innings and now has a .403 OBP when leading off an inning this year
 
NEXT UP
The Chaps and Greyhounds will meet again on Saturday, playing a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at Hays Field.