Rivalry On The Range Hits PlainsCapital Park, as Defending Champs In Town

03.11.2022 | By: Chris Due (chris.due@lcu.edu)

Lady Chaps Playing Their First Games Nationally Ranked (No.15), Hosting No.6 WT

LUBBOCK, Texas (March 12, 2022) – No.15 Lubbock Christian University plays their first set of conference home games Saturday, hosting reigning NCAA Division II National Champion No.6 West Texas A&M for a Lone Star Conference doubleheader at PlainsCapital Park. The Rivalry on the Range doubleheader opens a four-game homestand.

LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL
OPPONENT	LOCATION	CITY	TIME	WATCH	STATS	LCU STATS	OPP. STATS
No.6 WT	PlainsCapital Park	Lubbock, Texas	1 p.m.	Video	Stats	Season	Season
No.6 WT	PlainsCapital Park	Lubbock, Texas	3 p.m.	Video	Stats	Season	Season

WUNDERGROUND WEATHER: A mainly sunny sky. High 59F. Winds SW at 15 to 25 mph.... Expected game-time temp: 51F (1 p.m.) and 55F (3 p.m.), which will feel like 46F and 52F.

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LCU and WT Series Snapshot

WTAMU leads the all-time series over LCU, 16-9.
LCU is 6-7 all-time against WTAMU at PlainsCapital Park. The previous three games played in Lubbock have resulted in one-run decisions, with WT winning the previous two. LCU's last win over WT at home was Feb. 10, 2019.
Last season, WT swept LCU in a wet doubleheader in Canyon with a 1-0 and 7-3 win over the Lady Chaps.
Brooke Makemson leads LCU actively against WT, as she is 5-for-10 (.500) in three career games against the Lady Buffs.

How is the Team Doing?

LCU is 18-2 this season. They are riding an 18-game win streak, which is their longest win streak since a 19-game win streak since 2014.
The Lady Chaps are hitting .349 as a team (18^th nationally), with 28 home runs (seventh nationally and third in home runs per game, 1.4) and 38 doubles (total ranks 21^st nationally and their rate of 1.9 per game ranks 23^rd nationally) in 20 games. LCU averages 7.9 runs a contest (11^th nationally).
In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 2.42 (45^thnationally). Opponents are hitting .230 against LCU this season (fifth in the LSC).
The Lady Chaps are 25^th in shutouts, with four, and two of LCU's shutouts are no-hitters.
LCU is 15th nationally in stolen bases per game (2.85) and 62^nd in fielding percentage (.965).

Who is Doing What?

Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 6-1 this season with a 2.01 ERA in 48.2 innings pitched. She ranks eighth in the LSC in hits allowed per seven innings (5.32). She has registered two saves, which has her tied for fifth nationally (four leads the nation) and leads the LSC. She ranks fifth in the LSC in strikeouts with 59 (8.5 per seven innings ranks third in the LSC).
Taylor Franco is 10-0 with a 1.76 ERA on the young season. She ranks 20^th in active career ERA in NCAA with a career mark of 1.97. She is 45-19 in her career, which has her 17^th in active career NCAA Division II leaders in wins. The 45 wins sits third all-time in LCU program history in career wins. Franco's 10 wins this season leads the LSC and ranks sixth nationally.
Franco, who went 25.2 consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run earlier this season, has two no-hitters on the season and co-leads LCU in career no-hitters with three.
Savannah Wysocki had a triple Saturday, placing her with five on the season and 20 in her LCU career, which actively leads NCAA Division II in career triples. The five triples on the season ranks tied for second in NCAA Division II (six leads nationally). Wysocki, with 11 stolen bases this season, has 69 in her career, ranking 14^th among active career NCAA Division II leaders (third all-time in program history and three away from passing Mallory Koschany, who had 71 all in one season with LCU in 2013, and into second in program history). Her 11 stolen bases this season ranks 41^st nationally (tied for sixth in the LSC).
Tyla Lee leads LCU, hitting .516 (23^rd nationally) with 33 hits and 26 RBI (13 with two outs). Her 33 hits ranks fourth in the LSC. Lee claimed NFCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 22, marking a second consecutive season a Lady Chaps member received national honors. Last season, Brooke Makemson became LCU's first recipient of the national player of the week honor at the NCAA Division II level (Feb. 10, 2021). Lee has received two LSC Hitter of the Week honors this season and is the reigning Hitter of the Week. She claimed the fourth weekly honor by a Lady Chaps member this season. Franco (Pitcher, Feb. 15), Kasey Flores (Hitter, Mar.1) and Lee (Hitter, Feb. 22) previously claimed weekly accolades this season.
Kasey Flores leads LCU in home runs with six (tied for second in the LSC). Flores sits 20^th actively among NCAA Division II leaders in home runs with 29 (the mark includes her UTEP totals).
Skylar Herrera has eight stolen bases on the season, placing her with 46 in her career, ranking 47^th actively among NCAA Division II career leaders. She ranks second on the squad with five home runs.
LCU is ninth nationally in triples (11), with Savannah Wysocki ranking tied for second in the nation with five triples and Brooke Makemson behind her with three triples (ranks tied for 14th nationally).
Tyla Lee leads LCU in multi-hit games (11). Brooke Makemson leads LCU with eight multi-RBI games.

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.

Coach Talk

LCU head coach Daren Hays is in his 12^th season at the helm of the Lady Chaps.
Hays is LCU's winningest softball head coach, entering the weekend with a softball record of 465-147.
Along with surpassing 450 coaching wins in softball, Hays had surpassed 350 wins as a collegiate baseball head coach. He spent eight seasons as the LCU baseball head coach and compiled a 356-163 record.

Home on the Range

LCU is 280-37 (88.3%) all-time in home games at PlainsCapital Park.
Last season, LCU was 17-7 at home (13-1 in 2020).
This season, LCU is 7-0 at home.
The Lady Chaps are hitting .374 at home, with a .647 slugging mark. Their offense is averaging 8.7 runs at home and has produced nine home runs.
Savannah Wysocki is hitting .600 at home (9-for-12) with a .600 on-base percentage. Kasey Flores leads LCU with three home runs at home and Brooke Makemson leads LCU with 10 RBI at home.
In the circle, LCU has an 0.81 ERA and are holding opponents to a .167 average. Taylor Franco has not allowed a run in 24.4 innings pitched at home this season (has two no-hitters at home this season).

Lone Star Conference Breakdown

This season is LCU's third season in the LSC.
LCU is 26-16 all-time in LSC play.
The Lady Chaps are 4-0 this season in conference contests, which is their best conference start since 2015.
They are hitting .339 in conference, with seven home runs and an average of 8.0 runs per game. In the circle, they have a 4.59 ERA and opponents are hitting .331.
Tyla Lee has seven RBI in LSC play and his hitting .467 (7/15). Mattye Tyler and Taylor Franco are each 2-0 in conference, while Maxine Valdez has two saves.

National Notes

The Lady Chaps went 8-0 last season against nationally ranked programs in 2020, but went 2-10 against nationally ranked programs in 2021.
LCU is 3-1 this season against nationally ranked programs, as they fell 8-4 in extra innings (9 innings) against No.14 Auburn Montgomery (Feb. 5 in Gulf Shores, Ala.) before garnering wins over No.14 Rogers State (13-5 in five innings on Feb. 20 in Oklahoma City) and No.18 Oklahoma Christian (doubleheader sweep on Friday, 4-3 and 8-7).
On Mar.1, LCU made their debut in the NFCA national Top-25 rankings, debuting at No.15.

Streaking Along

Tiarra Delrosario is LCU's active hit-streak leader, entering the day on an 13-game hit streak, which matches Tyla Lee for this season's longest steak.
Lee has also reached base safely in the past 19 games, which is the longest streak this season by a Lady Chap. Tiarra Delrosario and Skylar Herrera are actively second with a 14-game streak.

In Summary

LCU has a 28-6 scoring advantage in the first inning, with their highest offensive output coming in the third inning, with a 29-14 scoring advantage.
The Lady Chaps have scored in the first inning in eight games this season and are 8-0 when doing so. LCU is 13-1 when scoring first.
LCU is 14-0 this season when they hit at least one home run in a game.
The Lady Chaps are 9-1 this season when error free. They have only played two games this season in which their opponent did not have an error.

Looking at WT

The Lady Buffs went 43-12 last season, finishing 20-10 in LSC play. They got on roll going 21-2 in their last 23 games and claimed a NCAA Division II national title in Denver, Colo.
WT is hitting .357 this season (11^th in the nation) and have 19 home runs on the season (23^rd nationally). They have a staff ERA of 1.80 (16^th nationally) and opponents are hitting .210 against them.
The Lady Buffs are 12-5 this season and are 1-3 in LSC play. They open conference playing eight consecutive games against nationally ranked programs. They opened their LSC slate splitting with No.1 UT Tyler before being swept by No.23 Texas A&M-Commerce. WT has not played on the road yet this season.
WT is preseason picked second in the LSC Preseason Poll.
WT's strikeout to walk ratio is 4.88, which ranks fifth nationally.
Pitcher Heidi Vortherms (7-2) ranks second in the LSC in strikeouts per seven innings (9.4), third in WHIP (0.91) and eighth in ERA (1.56).

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Rivalry On The Range Hits PlainsCapital Park, as Defending Champs In Town

Lady Chaps Playing Their First Games Nationally Ranked (No.15), Hosting No.6 WT

Lady Chaps Playing Their First Games Nationally Ranked (No.15), Hosting No.6 WT

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