OKLAHOMA CITY (February 12, 2022) – Lubbock Christian won both ends of a doubleheader on Saturday, beating Oklahoma Christian 7-5 and 3-1 in a pair of seven-inning games to claim win the series with a game still to play.
 
Each win for the Chaps featured an impressive pitching outing, as the Chaps moved to 5-2 on the season and in Lone Star Conference play. LCU is currently tied for second in the league with a .714 win percentage. Only WT is ahead with a 2-0 record, after the Buffs played nonconference games on opening weekend.
 
GAME ONE
Facing Eagle starter Andrew Alonzo in the first game, LCU once again got on the board early. They didn't score in the first inning this time, but Ty Stephenson put up a zero on the mound for LCU and his offense gave him the lead in the second.
 
Eduardo Acosta singled to right field to get the things going, and it took just one more swing of the bat for the Chaps to get their first two runs. Will Buchholz did the job, pulling a home run over the right field wall. It was his first home run in an LCU uniform.
 
Stephenson had another scoreless frame, but the Eagles got to him in the third with a couple of singles and a home run from Blake Empkey.
 
Lucky for the Chap starter, his offense had his back, and the OC defense struggled to get outs anyway. LCU tied the game with just two at-bats, as Buchholz continued his big day with a double. He scored on a Jaxson Edwards single.
 
Then, with the Chaps just trying to move the runner over with a sacrifice bunt, the Oklahoma Christian made back-to-back throwing errors, allowing the go-ahead run to come home. Two more runs came across in the inning before it finally ended with the Chaps leading 6-3.
 
OC got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth and chased Stephenson when they loaded the bases with no outs. Cannon Davis came in out of the bullpen though and was elite, striking out the first batter and sitting the next two down in order to escape with LCU still ahead by a run.
 
Davis continued to dominate over the next two frames, facing just six batters in that time. He allowed a pair of two-out singles in the bottom of the seventh, but tallied his fourth strike out of the game to end it.
 
GAME TWO
After using just two pitchers in the first game, Lubbock Christian did one better in the nightcap and used just one.
 
Shandon Herrera continued his hot start to the season with a complete game, striking out seven batters in the process and allowing one run. It set a new career-high in innings pitched for the Odessa native and marked the first complete game by a Chap since Armando Valle threw nine complete against Eastern New Mexico on April 9, 2021.
 
The Chaps needed Herrera's performance too, because they had their lowest-scoring performance of the season.
 
Herrera faced trouble in the first, loading the bases with just one out, but he got a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat. LCU the seemed to be picking up right where it left off at the plate in the first game. They scored three runs in the top of the second, two of which came on a single from Mason Donahoe, and chased the OC starter before the frame ended.
 
They would not score again for the final five innings. In fact, they got just two more hits the rest of the way.
 
Still, they prevailed thanks to Herrera's strong pitching. He scattered six hits in his outing and walked only two Eagle hitters, facing just 29 batters in the outing. His only trouble spot came in the sixth, when Tyler White homered with two outs, but he bounced back with a swinging strikeout.
 
He allowed a two-out single and walk in the seventh to bring the winning run to the plate, but struck out Cole Lee swinging to end the game.
 
NEXT UP
Lubbock Christian will go for the series sweep at noon on Sunday.