A Friday Win Leads to Championship Round Play at Regional Tournament

05.13.2022 | By: Chris Due (chris.due@lcu.edu)

LCU Facing No.1 UT Tyler in Winner's Bracket Semifinal

TYLER, Texas (May 13, 2022) – No.16 Lubbock Christian University heads into Semifinals play in the winner's bracket of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional Friday, as the No.4-seeded Lady Chaparrals face No.1-seed No.1 UT Tyler with a noon scheduled first pitch in the four-team double-elimination tournament at Suddenlink Field.

NCAA DIVISION II SOFTBALL SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL
OPPONENT	LOCATION	CITY	TIME	WATCH	STATS	LCU STATS	OPP. STATS
UTT	Suddenlink Field	Tyler, Texas	12 p.m.	Video	Stats	Season	Season

WUNDERGROUND WEATHER: Partly cloudy. Near record high temperatures. High 91F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph... Expected game-time temperature is 83, with a heat index of 85...

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The Scenario

If LCU defeats UT Tyler, LCU will play Saturday at noon in the NCAA South Central Region Championship Game.
A loss would place LCU into an elimination game scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. against the winner of Friday's 3 p.m. elimination game between Angelo State and Colorado Christian.

LCU and UTT Series Snapshot

The two programs are split with a 2-2 all-time record
Last season marked the first-ever meetings between the two teams, as they split a doubleheader on Mar. 28, 2021 in Tyler, Texas. LCU fell in the first game 4-3 in 10 innings before the Lady Chaps responded with an 8-2 win in the second game.
LCU and pitcher Taylor Franco no-hit the Patriots on Mar. 27 and claimed a 3-0 win before falling 6-2 in a doubleheader split at Maner Park in Lubbock during this season's doubleheader split.
Taylor Franco is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA in three career appearances (16.0 innings) against UTT.
Savannah Wysocki is 11-for-16 (.688) in her career verses UTT.
Brooke Makemson has two home runs this season against UTT.

South Central Regional Breakdown

This tournament marks LCU's third tournament appearance in the NCAA postseason. LCU previous received automatic berths in 2016 (San Antonio, Texas) and 2017 (San Angelo, Texas) after winning Heartland Conference Tournament titles.
LCU is 2-4 all-time at the NCAA South Central Regionals. They defeated Angelo State 6-5 Thursday, which was their first NCAA postseason win since a 14-11 win on May 12, 2017 in San Angelo against Cameron.
Sydney Beuthien is LCU's all-time leader in NCAA postseason play in hits (8), as she hit .533 (8-for-15) in five NCAA postseason games. She posted four home runs and seven RBI in NCAA postseason play, which leads LCU all-time in career NCAA postseason numbers.
Savannah Wysocki is 5-for-7 (.714) in NCAA postseason play for LCU.
Taylor Franco (1-0) leads LCU in NCAA postseason ERA with a 1.42 ERA, and Maxine Valdez leads LCU in NCAA postseason strikeouts with six.

Tournament Notes

LCU opened the 2022 NCAA South Central Regional with a 6-5 13-inning win over No.5-seed No.7 Angelo State Thursday in a game lasting nearly three-and-a-half hours.
Savannah Wysocki matched a program single-game record with five hits against ASU Thursday, as she went 5-for-7 (.714).
The Lady Chaps are hitting .333 in this season's tournament. They have a staff ERA of 3.46 and opponents are hitting .191 against the Lady Chaps.
Athena Muniz leads LCU with two RBI.
LCU's 13 innings played Thursday matched a program record for the longest game in program history, and it marks two consecutive 13-inning games played for LCU and both have been at Suddenlink Field (LCU has played four games in their program history at Suddenlink Field and three have resulted in extra-inning results (LCU is 1-2 in those outcomes).
This season's tournament field features three programs with national championships within their history from three different levels. Angelo State (NCAA Division II), LCU (NAIA) and UT Tyler (NCAA Division III) have won national titles.

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 8-8 this season against nationally ranked programs. They have five wins against top-10 programs, which is the most since 2013 (12 wins in 2013).
Top 25 Wins:
- No.14 Rogers State (13-5 in five innings on Feb. 20 in Oklahoma City)
- No.18 Oklahoma Christian (doubleheader sweep on Friday, 4-3 and 8-7).
- Mar. 12, they defeated No.6 West Texas A&M at home.
- Mar. 27, they no-hit No.1 UT Tyler at home.
- No.7 Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-3 on Apr. 8 in Kingsville, Texas)
- No.7 Angelo State (9-4 on Apr. 30 at home)
- No.7 Angelo State (6-5 in 13 innings May 12 in Tyler, Texas)
On Mar.1, LCU made their debut in the NFCA national Top-25 rankings, debuting at No.15. They moved up to No.10 on Mar. 21 for their best ranking since joining NCAA Division II (2016 season). They enter this week ranked No.16.

Looking at UTT

The Patriots qualified for the program's for NCAA Division II postseason by receiving an at-large bid after posting a 41-5 regular season record. They opened the NCAA Division II South Central Regional with an 8-0 win in five innings over Colorado Christian. The win puts them into Friday's game with a 42-5 overall record on the season.
The Patriots went 33-7 last season, finishing atop the LSC standings with a 27-3 conference mark. They were not postseason eligible (transitioned from Division III) last season, but this season they are.
UTT is hitting .363 this season (second in the LSC) and have 48 home runs on the season. They have a staff ERA of 2.13 (second in the LSC) and opponents are hitting .224 against them (fourth in the LSC).
They are 18-2 at home this season, with their last home loss coming in the LSC Championships (lost to No.4-seed Texas A&M-Commerce).
The Patriots rank fifth in the nation with their .363 batting average. Ashley Perez leads the team in the category and ranks 39^th nationally hitting .430.
UTT has four pitchers with at least eight wins on the season, as they have a staff that includes Payton Foster (12-1), Sarah Gartman (9-0), Tatum Goff (9-4) and Kaylee Davis (8-0).

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