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Lady Chaps Look For Hot Season Start on Cold Beach

| By: Chris Due (chris.due@lcu.edu)

Brisk Temperatures Expected, as LCU Opens Season in Alabama

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GULF SHORES, Ala. (Feb 5, 2022) – The 2022 Lubbock Christian University softball season, which is the 15th in program history, gets underway Saturday morning at Gulf Shores Invitational, where they open against a pair of Alabama based programs at Sportsplex.
GULF SHORES INVITATIONAL
OPPONENT LOCATION CITY TIME WATCH STATS LCU STATS OPP. STATS
UWA Sportsplex (Field 3) Gulf Shores, Ala. 9 a.m. N/A Stats N/A N/A
No.14 UAM Sportsplex (Field 3) Gulf Shores, Ala. 11:15 a.m. N/A Stats Season Season

WUNDERGROUND WEATHER: Partly cloudy skies. High around 50F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.

WATCH ONLINE: No Live Stream Available

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LCU and UWA Series Snapshot
  • LCU has never faced West Alabama. The two teams were originally set to open the 2021 season, but COVID protocols led to UWA unable to participate in the season opening event hosted in Mobile, Ala.
  • The Lady Chaps are 3-1 all-time against Alabama based programs.
  • LCU is 5-2 all-time against Gulf South Conference programs.
 
LCU and UAM Series Snapshot
  • LCU is 1-0 all-time against UAM, with the lone meeting resulting in a 5-0 LCU win on Mar. 6, 2009 in Panama City Beach, Fla.
  • The game was part of the NFCA Leadoff Classic and both teams were NAIA members.
  • Kelly Griego had a four-hit shutout in the game, as offense support was supllied by Ginalee Davis, who was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.

Season Expectations
  • The Lady Chaps are preseason picked to finish seventh in the Lone Star Conference.
  • LCU is in their eighth season playing a NCAA Division II schedule (2013 was their last season in NAIA) and this is their third season as members of the Lone Star Conference.
  • There are 16 softball programs in the LSC this season. The major difference from last season to this season is UT Tyler is postseason eligible.
 
Opening Day
  • LCU is 14-0 all-time in season openers.
  • Seven of LCU's season openers have resulted in shutout wins.
  • On Feb. 13, 2008, LCU's season opener and inaugural game in program history resulted in a 15-0 no-hit victory over Southwest (N.M.).
  • Last season, LCU opened the season with a 5-0 win over Mississippi College, in a neutral site game played in Mobile, Ala.
  • This season marks the third consecutive season LCU is opening the season away from home. Prior to 2020, the last time LCU opened the season away from home was their 2013 opener (10-0 win over Eastern New Mexico in San Antonio, Texas).
 
Last Season
  • LCU went 29-17 last season and was eighth in the Lone Star Conference with a 17-13 conference mark.
  • They went to the LSC Championships as the No.7-seed and lost in their opening game to St. Edward's.
  • After a successful 5-0 mark against ranked opponents in 2020, LCU went 2-10 last season against ranked teams.
  • The Lady Chaps went 5-1 in neutral site games last season (10-3 over the prior two seasons).
 
The New Kids  
Who Did and Who Didn't
  • LCU returns every starting positional player from last season. There were five players that started in all 46 games last season (Savannah Wysocki, Skylar Herrera, Brooke Makemson, Athena Muniz and Angela Donaldson) and all five return.
  • There are 11 returning players overall.
  • In the circle, four of LCU's five pitchers returned, included Taylor Franco, who was named one of "10 Division II Players to Watch" by Extra Inning Softball.
  • The top three players lost (based on appearances) were Alivia Villarreal (designated hitter, who hit .278 last season), Addi Lewis (catcher, who hit .327 with nine doubles) and Alexa Riggs (utility player, who hit .259). The lone pitcher lost is Dakota Stotyn, who went 11-5 last season.
 
Coach Talk
  • LCU head coach Daren Hays is in his 12th season at the helm of the Lady Chaps.
  • Hays is LCU's winningest softball head coach, entering the season with a softball record of 447-145.
  • Along with surpassing 400 coaching wins in softball, Hays had surpassed 300 wins as a collegiate baseball head coach. He spent eight seasons as the LCU baseball head coach and compiled a 356-163 record.
 
Back to Bama
  • LCU is making a return trip to Alabama, as this season marks their third consecutive trip to southern Alabama. Their 2020 season opener in Gulf Shores, Ala. was their first return to Alabama since the 2012 NAIA Softball Championships.
  • The Lady Chaps appeared in three national championship tournaments in Gulf Shores (2011, 2012, 2013) and played the 2008-2010 national tournaments in Decatur, Ala.
  • LCU, who opened last season in Mobile, Ala., is 7-4 all-time in games played at Gulf Shores Sportsplex.
 
Looking at UWA
  • The Tigers went 18-23 last season, finishing third in the GSC with a 11-19 conference mark.
  • UWA opened their season in Gulf Shores in three consecutive seasons prior to last season, going 1-2 in their opening game.
  • West Alabama is slated to finish 10th in the 13-team GSC Preseason Poll.
  • The Tigers return 15 players, with six new additions joining the 2022 roster.
 
Looking at UAM
  • The Warhawks went 40-7 last season, finishing first in the GSC with a 20-5 conference mark. They qualified for the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament.
  • UAM opened their season in Gulf Shores in three consecutive seasons prior to last season, going 7-2 in the three combined appearances.
  • Auburn Montgomery is slated to finish first in the 13-team GSC Preseason Poll.
  • UAM is preseason ranked No.14 by the NFCA.
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