OKLAHOMA CITY (February 11, 2022) – Lubbock Christian got a strong start from senior Armando Valle and took advantage of three Oklahoma Christian errors to win 8-4 on Friday afternoon at Wendell Simmons Field.
 
Playing in their first road game of the 2022 season, the Chaps (3-2, 3-2 LSC) took an early lead over the Eagles (3-2, 3-2) and added on with several unearned runs in the middle innings to pull out the win.
 
It all started with Valle though. After a relief outing in the opening series that didn't go as well as the lanky lefty would have liked, he was handed the ball to start Friday's series-opener. The Chaps had failed to score in the top half of the first, but Valle got them back to the plate quickly, inducing a flyout before back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame.
 
He went on to pitch 5.2 innings, the first four of which he did not allow a run. He scattered four hits and three walks in that time, and by the time he left the mound he had racked up eight strikeouts. Valle allowed just two runs in his time on the mound, one of which was unearned.
 
The Chap offense first gave Valle a lead to work with in the top of the third. Caden Hensley began the scoring effort with a leadoff double and Carson Ogilvie followed with a walk. George Mendazona bunted the pair over, and Luis Navarro drove both in with a single.
 
LCU's biggest inning came in the top of the fifth, and they did all of their scoring with two outs. Mendazona worked a one-out walk and Navarro singled. One batter later, Jarred Gibson singled home a run. The base were loaded when Eduardo Acosta came to the plate and he hit a ground ball that should have ended the inning, but the Eagle second basemen booted it and all three baserunners came home.
 
The final two Lubbock Christian runs came in the sixth. Hensley scored again after drawing a walk, with Mendazona's sac fly bringing him home. Another OC error allowed the Chaps to plate one more run in the frame.
 
Oklahoma Christian got on unearned run back in the bottom of the sixth and finally chased Valle from the game for Koi Carrillo. He got out of the inning with no further runs allowed, but the Eagles touched him up for three in the bottom of the seventh and the Chaps called on Brendan Anderson.
 
Anderson came on with runners at second and third and nobody out and promptly struck out the first two batters he faced, setting the tone for another solid relief outing. He faced the minimum over the next two innings, notching another three strikeouts and earning his first collegiate save in the process.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
.325 | LCU's .325 season batting average is the second-best mark in the Lone Star Conference
4 | Luis Navarro set a new season-high by a Chaparral with four hits in the game, despite being lifted in the sixth for a pinch runner
.50 | Brendan Anderson has allowed just one hit in 6.1 innings of work this season for an opponent's batting average of .50
 
NEXT UP
The Chaps will face the Eagles again on Saturday, playing two seven inning games in a doubleheader that starts at 1 p.m. at Wendell Simmons Field.