No 6-seed LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (23-23) vs.
No. 2-seed ANGELO STATE (38-7)
Saturday, May 21 – 1 p.m.
Foster Field – San Angelo, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
Lubbock Christian University has come all the way back through the loser's bracket in the 2021 Lone Star Conference Tournament and given themselves a chance to win the title on Saturday. To do it, they will have to beat No. 2-seed and tournament host Angelo State and beat them twice. The Rams have cruised to the championship with a pair of wins this weekend, including one over the Chaparrals 15-3 on Thursday night. LCU will get to play as the home team and use the home dugout for the first game today as they look to come out swinging and force an if-necessary second game Saturday afternoon.
 
THIS SEASON VS. ASU
The Chaps are one of only two teams to have beaten Angelo State, who has been ranked in the national top-25 all season, multiple times this year. LCU is 2-3 against ASU on the year. The Rams took two out of three in the regular season LSC series at Hays Field, with the Chaps salvaging a 12-6 win in the finale. LCU also came to Foster Field for an April 20 midweek game that they won 5-3.
 
STARTING PITCHING MATCHUP
LCU – Peyton Hutson will go to the mound for Lubbock Christian, with the righty making just his third start of the 2021 season, although it is his team-leading 18^th appearance. Hutson has an ERA of 7.68 for the year in 34.0 innings pitched. He has allowed 29 earned runs on 38 hits and walked 30 batters while striking out 33. Hutson has been good in his two outings against Angelo State this year, allowing no runs on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts against the Rams. In his last outing, the Odessa native went 3.0 innings against Texas A&M-Kingsville, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while also striking out three Javelina batters.
 
ASU – Right-hander Mat Szabo seems to be the likely candidate to got to the mound opposite of Hutson. The Canada native has an ERA of 3.51 and a 3-2 record in 10 appearances but will be making just his fourth start of the year. He has allowed 10 runs on 15 hits and 14 walks in 25.2 innings of work while striking out an astounding 43 batters. Szabo's last outing was in the series finale against Arkansas Fort Smith last weekend, where he went 5.0 innings with one run allowed on just two hits and two walks. He struck out six in the outing. The Chaps have not seen Szabo in the five games the two teams have played this year.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.342 | Lubbock Christian is batting .342 as a team in the three games played in the second round of the LSC Tournament, led by Colin Gordon's .556 average
.245 | Hutson has been excellent this season against right-handed batters, limiting them to just 24 hits in 98 at-bats for a .245 average
5.0 | Szabo's season-long outing his 5.0 innings, which he has done twice
71 | With eight home runs on the day, LCU has now hit 71 this season, which is their most in a year since 2013 when they clubbed 74
.403 | With eight hits in 15 at-bats this weekend, Chap catcher Luis Navarro has his team-leading batting average back up above the .500 mark