LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (22-8, 20-8, LSC) vs.
WEST TEXAS A&M (25-5, 23-5 LSC)
Friday, April 1 – 7 p.m.
Wilder Park – Canyon, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
There's no rest for the weary. Coming off just their third series split of the season, Lubbock Christian faces another tough opponent, as they hit the road to face league-leading West Texas A&M. The Buffs have a two-game hold on the top spot in the LSC right now, but they have a daunting back half of the schedule, with the other four teams ranked inside the league's top five still waiting to face them. The Chaps are one of those squads, currently holding the third-place spot after going 2-2 last week against St. Edward's. LCU has not lost a series yet this season. The weekend matchup also pairs the LSC's top two teams by slugging percentage
 
CHAPARRAL NINE

• The Chaps rank No. 10 nationally and lead the LSC with a team slugging percentage of .563
• Lubbock Christian leadoff batters are reaching base at a .445 clip (101-227) this season
• LCU dropped all three games they played against West Texas A&M last season
• The Buffs are coming off a series win at St. Mary's, where they took three out of the four games
• The Chaps have hit two or more homers in 12 games this season, with a 10-2 record in those contests
• LCU remained in the national rankings this week, holding the No. 19 spot in the NCBWA poll
• WT leads the LSC with a .344 batting average and ranks second with an ERA of 4.73
• Lubbock Christian hit .325 with 11 extra-base hits in the series against St. Edward's

 
MARCHING RIGHT ALONG
The month of March was good to the Chaparrals, as they went 10-5 overall with two series wins and two series splits. As a team, LCU hit .330 in the 15 games during the month, including 35 doubles, five triples and 20 home runs. The pitching staff has limited opponents Angelo State, Texas A&M International, Texas A&M-Kingsville and St. Edward's to a .264 batting average while posting a 5.68 ERA. George Mendazona had the best month at the plate, batting .446 with six doubles and three homers for a .714 slugging percentage. Ethan Coombes had the best month on the mound, posting an ERA of 1.74 and 22 strikeouts in 20.2 innings pitched.
 
RIVALRY ON THE RANGE
The LCU/WT matchup this weekend will continue the Rivalry on the Range series between the two schools. Announced on August 6, 2019, the Rivalry on the Range is a year-long competition including 15 sports in which the two schools will compete against one another. The rivalry series scoring components includes head-to-head battles in men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and softball, with additional points available in postseason play. With 15 matchups already in the books, including three in the postseason, West Texas A&M currently has a 12-8 lead.
 
POWER SURGE
With another two home runs last weekend against the Hilltoppers, Lubbock Christian now has 45 for the season. It is the 12^th most in Division II and leads the Lone Star Conference by a wide margin. St. Edward's and UT Permian Basin are tied for the second-most with 29 each. The Chaps have also clubbed 64 doubles and 11 triples (second in the LSC) for a .563 slugging percentage that tops the conference. Larry Leitha leads the team in slugging with a .706 percentage. His 11 doubles and eight homers are both the most by a Chap. Three other Chaps (Mendazona, Luis Navarro, Eduardo Acosta) are slugging better than .600.
 
STARTING ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Last weekend, the four starting pitchers used by Lubbock Christian combined to post an ERA of 4.43 while holding SEU batters to a .278 average. Coombes led the staff, tossing his second-straight complete game shutout in one of the seven inning doubleheader games. He struck out nine in the outing. Ty Stephenson had his best outing of the year so far, going 7.1 innings in the series finale with just one earned run allowed while striking out seven. It was the first time he pitched more than seven innings since Feb. 28, 2020, when he went 9.0 innings against Texas A&M International. Shandon Herrera and Tyler Hardwick rounded out the rotation, which should remain the same for this weekend's series. This season, LCU starting pitchers have an overall ERA of 5.63 and have held opponents to a .275 batting average.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
After splitting against St. Edward's the voters around the country moved Lubbock Christian up in the national rankings. The Chaps jumped up two spots to No. 19 in the country in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll, marking their first time in the top-20 this season. LCU drew 109 points in the poll to earn their spot. The Chaps are also ranked No. 24 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, which is voted on by coaches around the country. West Texas A&M is also ranked in both polls, checking in at No. 5 in the NCBWA ranking and No. 8 in the CBN poll. This will be LCU's second meeting with a ranked opponent this season.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
No Lubbock Christian player currently has a hitting streak longer than four games, after back-to-back losses to end the St. Edward's series. Mendazona, Navarro and Mason Donohoe make up that trio, and Mendazona has the team's longest active reached base streak as well at six games. The Chap third basemen hit .571 against the Hilltoppers. Navarro still leads the team in both multi-hit games (14) and multi-RBI games (10). Mendazona and Jarred Gibson are second on the team with 12 multi-hit games apiece.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Chaps have played three series on the road, going 9-3 at the unfriendly confines so far, including a sweep of Oklahoma Christian, a split at Angelo State and a win at Texas A&M-Kingsville. They have not hit as well away from Hays Field with a .269 team batting average, but five Chaps are hitting better than .300 in road games. The pitching has been solid on the road though, with a 5.00 staff ERA and .240 opponent's batting average. WT plays its home games at Wilder Park, which was completed in December of 2010 and can hold 490 fans.
 
2000 AND COUNTING
Since the inception of LCU's baseball program in 1971, the Chaparrals have been one of the best baseball teams at whatever level they were playing. Lubbock Christian has played 3,265 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,189 wins and 1,077 losses in that time. For the last 18 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 710-318 record in that time.
 
SCOUTING THE BUFFS

• West Texas A&M leads the nation in doubles with 87 and has a team slugging percentage of .516
• The Buffs' staff ERA of 4.73 is second-best in the conference, and WT hurler Nick Marshall ranks second in the league individually with a 2.36 ERA
• D-I transfer (Houston) Adam Becker leads the Buff offense with a .446 batting average, and hits in all but two of the 30 games he has played so far this year
• WT has not lost a series yet this season and their only split came at home against UT Tyler
• The Buffs are coming off of a series win at St. Mary's, where they took three out of four games from the Rattlers

 
THE SERIES WITH THE BUFFS
Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M first began meeting on the baseball diamond all the way back in 1971. They met four times that season and three times in 1972 with LCU taking a 4-3 series lead before the Buffs disbanded their baseball program. West Texas A&M re-started the program in 1994, and the teams have been playing consistently since then. The Chaps lead the all-time series 45-22. Since 2015, there have been 13 meetings, with WT holding a slight edge at 7-6.