TYLER, Texas (April 30, 2022) – It was a long day at the ballpark for the Lubbock Christian University as a weather delay made Saturday's doubleheader last nearly nine hours, and the Chaps split the two games with a 4-1 win and an 8-0 loss.
 
LCU is now 34-15 overall and 32-15 in Lone Star Conference play. With a win in the first game, they clinched at least the No. 3 seed in the league's postseason tournament, which will begin May 6. The Chaps will need a win in Sunday's series finale to stave off their first series loss this season.
 
Game One
The first inning of the day was good to the Chaps and ended up being key part of the bounce-back win for Lubbock Christian. After a long at-bat that ended in an out to start things off, George Mendazona worked a walk and Luis Navarro followed with a single. Larry Leitha then walked to load the bases and Mason Donohoe singled to plate the first LCU run. Jarred Gibson had the big swing of the inning, plating two more runs before UTT starter Hayden Collins finally got out of the frame.
 
The three-run margin would stand up for the Chaps, thanks to yet another stellar outing by Ethan Coombes, who notched his sixth complete game of the season in the win.
 
Coombes was given one more run to work with in the top of the second as Carson Ogilvie walked and Mendazona doubled, allowing Navarro to record an RBI with a sac fly.
 
Lubbock Christian had numerous other chances to increase their lead throughout the game, putting runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and sixth, but never could plate another run. Harrison Lee came on in relief after Collins completed two innings and was able to escape every jam along the way, taking advantage of three ground ball double plays during his time on the mound.
 
Luckily, Coombes was pretty much untouchable as well. The only Patriot run of the game came in the bottom of the third, when UTT got a leadoff walk and a bunt hit. They pushed both runners into scoring position with a sac bunt and scored one with a sac fly, but Coombes got a strikeout to end the threat.
 
Strikeouts were common in the bottom halves of the inning throughout the game, as Coombes set a new season-high with 11 Ks. LCU's starter struck out eight of the nine hitters that started the game, along with one batter who came on to pinch hit.
 
Game Two
It was the opposite kind of start in game two, as Lubbock Christian went scoreless in the top of the first and then gave up three runs in the bottom half of the inning. All three runs were given up by starter Shandon Herrera, who suffered his first road loss of the season.
 
The Patriots added two more runs in the second off reliever Armando Valle and scored one more in the third and had a runner in scoring position when the storm moved in and the tarp came out.
 
Close to three hours later, the teams finally retook the field, with Colton Brown relieving Valle after the long layoff. Brown allowed the runner on third to score and gave up one more before escaping the inning.
 
The game moved fairly quickly from that point on, as neither team scored the rest of the way. Nick Oslovar was on the mound for UTT after the delay and pitched a solid two innings. He only allowed one runner to get into scoring position in his time on the mound, and that came via an error.
 
Mason Donohoe had one final Chaparral hit in the sixth and was the only LCU player with multiple hits in the game. This is only the second time this season the Chaps have gone into the series finale needing to win to clinch a split.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
1.67 | Coombes has tossed four straight complete games now, posting an ERA of 1.67 with 38 strikeouts in that time
.153 | The Chaps were just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position on the day for a .153 batting average, and those two hits came in the first inning of the first game
24 | Going 0-3 in the nightcap, LCU third basemen George Mendazona saw his 24-game reached base streak come to an end on Saturday
 
NEXT UP
The regular season finale will start at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Irwin Field.