LUBBOCK, Texas (April 9, 2022) – Both teams won a game by double-digits on Saturday afternoon at Hays Field, as Lubbock Christian University took the first game of the doubleheader 20-2 before Eastern New Mexico won the nightcap 16-1.
 
The Chaps (26-11, 24-11) will now need to win Sunday's series finale to clinch the series, while the Greyhounds (15-20, 14-19) will be trying to split the series.
 
GAME ONE
Ethan Coombes started the first game, taking on his former team and struck out eight in a complete game where he allowed just three hits and walked two on 99 pitches. But the story was the Chaparral offense.
 
LCU got on the board in the first inning with a solo home run from George Mendazona, who smacked a pitch over the wall in right center. It was his eighth home run of the year and his fourth hit in the first inning.
 
It was in the second though, when the Chaps went ahead and chased ENMU starting pitcher Damian Acosta with nine runs, scoring all of them with two outs. Carson Ogilvie started the effort with a walk, but Acosta actually should have gotten out of the frame without any runs scoring. Eduardo Acosta was batting with the bases loaded and struck out, but the pitch got away and every runner moved up a base, including Ogilvie scoring.
 
Mendazona and Luis Navarro followed up with RBI singles before the bases loaded again for Jarred Gibson. Gibson provided the knockout blow, crushing a home run over the left field wall for a grand slam.
 
Eastern New Mexico got a run back in the third, but LCU immediately plated three more in the bottom of the inning. The Chaps got two more in the fourth, one of which came on a leadoff homer from Mason Donohoe.
 
The final Greyhound run came in the sixth, but Lubbock Christian answered with a five-spot in the frame. Pinch hitter were used for nearly every single batter in the inning, but the bench players were getting on as well, and the were Chaps at every base when Will Buchholz pinch hit for Larry Leitha. Buchholz worked a two-one count before smashing a hanging breaking ball over the right field wall for yet another grand slam.
 
Despite several long offensive stretches for the Chaps, Coombes remained efficient throughout the entirety of his outing and sat the Greyhounds down in order in the seventh to secure the win.
 
Strong offensive performances were found up and down the Chaparral lineup, but perhaps none was more impressive than that of freshman Brevin McCool, who made his first collegiate appearance with a start in right field. McCool was officially 1-for-1 with a double, but he also walked four times and scored two runs in the win.
 
GAME TWO
Lubbock Christian was down and nearly out of the game almost from the start in the nightcap. Less than 10 minutes from first pitch, Eastern New Mexico had plated six runs and chased Chap starter Shandon Herrera before he even recorded an out.
 
He was replaced by Valle, who allowed one of Herrera's runners to score but got out of the inning without any further damage, leaving LCU in a 7-0 hole against ENMU starter Ruger Bravo.
 
It looked like the Chaps might answer with a big inning of their own when Eduardo Acosta led off with a triple. He scored on a sacrifice fly from Mendazona, and LCU would not score again.
 
Valle hung zeroes in the second and third, but Bravo matched him, keeping the Chaparral hitters off balance all night with a big curveball. ENMU added a run in the fourth, but really broke the game open in the sixth.
 
The Greyhounds plated eight runs in the frame of Valle and Logan Ellis, who came on with the bases loaded and no outs. Only five of the runs were earned, as the Chaps committed a pair of errors in the inning.
 
Bravo worked around singles in the sixth and seventh to give his team the win.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
20 | The last time the Chaps scored at least 20 runs in a single game was May 9, 2021, when they won 23-13 against Oklahoma Christian. That same game was also the last time they hit two grand slams in the same game
4 | The four walks by McCool in game one were the most by a Chap player in a single game this season. Trevor Andrus was the last LCU player to draw four walks in a game, doing so against Texas A&M International on March 13, 2021
.386 | With three hits in six at-bats on the day, Mason Donohoe has become the team-leader in batting average at .386
 
NEXT UP
The series finale against Eastern New Mexico will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Hays Field.