Baseball | 05.05.2022

LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (34-16, 32-16, LSC) vs.
ST. EDWARD'S (27-21, 27-21 LSC)
Friday, May 6 – 6 p.m.
Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
LEADING OFF
The 2022 Lone Star Conference Baseball Championship will begin this Friday, and Lubbock Christian has earned the right to host games in the opening round, taking on St. Edward's this weekend at Hays Field. The Chaparrals finished the 2022 regular season with a 34-16 overall record and LCU's .667 conference winning percentage earned them the No. 3 seed heading into the conference tournament. Top four seeds in the LSC Championship will host the bottom for teams this weekend to start the tournament. LCU's series with the No. 6 seed St. Edward's will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday night. The winning teams at all four hosts sites will advance to the highest-remaining seed to play a double-elimination bracket tournament.
 
THE CHAPARRAL NINE

• Lubbock Christian hit .331 as a team in the regular season, which ranks third-best in the conference
• Jarred Gibson is tied for second in the league with nine runners caught stealing this year
• The Chaps and Hilltoppers split the four-game regular season series between the two teams
• SEU has the fourth-best staff ERA in the LSC at 5.33
• LCU and SEU both won their opening round LSC tournament series in 2021
• Ethan Coombes has tossed six complete games, which is the most in the conference
• The Lubbock Christian fielding percentage of .965 ranks sixth in the LSC
• St. Edward's is coming off a series win at West Texas A&M in which they scored 40 runs in four games

 
POWER SURGE
Lubbock Christian finished the 2022 regular season with a slugging percentage of .558, which leads the LSC and ranks 12^th among all Division II programs. The Chaps also rank highly on a national scale in doubles (19^th, 109), triples (12^th, 21) and home runs (18^th, 69). Their home run total also leads the league, well ahead of Oklahoma Christian, who has 54. Larry Leitha has the best slugging percentage on the team at .683, and Luis Navarro is not far behind at .681. Eduardo Acosta and George Mendazona also have their slugging percentage above the .600 mark.
 
CHAPS IN APRIL
The calendar has officially turned to May, leaving April in the past. The month treated the LCU baseball team pretty well, as they went 12-7 overall, at one point rattling off a six-game win streak. The Chaps were 7-1 at home in the month and 5-6 away from Lubbock. They hit .338 as a team, with 43 doubles, 10 triples and 23 home runs. Acosta led the way with a .438 batting average and Mendazona also hit above .400. Ethan Coombes led the pitching staff with a 3.30 ERA in 30.0 innings pitched in the month and 39 strikeouts, and Ty Stephenson fared well with a 3.54 ERA in 20.1 April innings of work.
 
BEHIND THE DISH
Across the four games against UT Tyler last weekend, Lubbock Christian caught five Patriot runners stealing. That brings their season total to 23, which leads the Lone Star Conference. The stable of Chap catchers that includes Navarro, Jarred Gibson and Jaxson Edwards have combined to allow stolen bases at a rate of just 69.3 percent, which is the second-best mark in the league. Gibson leads the team with nine and is tied for second in the LSC with that number. Navarro is close behind with seven, and Edwards is right behind with six. The other runner caught came from a pitcher. Tyler Hardwick has been the best Chap moundsman at limiting stolen bases, with just five in 11 chances while he pitches.
 
STARTING ON THE RIGHT FOOT
Although the powerful bats of the Chaps have been a huge part of their success this season, another key component has been the starting pitching. LCU starting pitching has outperformed the staff as a whole, with the five starters combining for a 5.55 ERA in 243.1 innings of work, compared to a 6.42 ERA from the bullpen. Ethan Coombes has been the most successful starting pitcher, posting a 3.71 ERA in 63.0 innings of work as a starter. Coombes has held opponents to a .210 batting average overall, which is the second best mark in the LSC. Hardwick, Shandon Herrera, Ty Stephenson and Armando Valle have all been used in the starting role as well.
 
PITCHER'S BEST FRIEND
All of the pitchers on LCU's staff, however, have benefitted from a solid infield defense behind them. Mendazona at third, Carson Ogilvie at shortstop and Caden Hensley at second have all been mainstays, with 47 starts at those positions each. The trio have combined to turn 39 double plays, which is the third-most in the LSC and 11^th-most nationally. Earlier this season, they turned five in one game against West Texas A&M, which tied the program record. LCU's pitchers do lean far more heavily on the ground ball, getting 412 groundouts to just 312 flyouts.
 
 
REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED
NCAA South Central Regional Rankings were released again this week, with some changes after last week's first poll. The Chaparrals dropped down one spot to No. 5. Eight teams are ranked, and the top six will make the NCAA postseason at the end of the conference tournament. Angelo State moved ahead of Colorado Mesa to No. 1, but the big move came from Texas A&M-Kingsville, who jumped from the No. 5 up to the No. 3, despite splitting with Eastern New Mexico last week. Lubbock Christian has three NCAA regional appearances in five chances, including most recently in 2019.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
Entering the postseason, it is still Navarro leading the team in both multi-hit and multi-RBI games. He has 21 multi-hit perform aces on the year, followed closely by Acosta and Mendazona with 20 each. Navarro has 14 multi-RBI games. The team leader in both hit streak and reached base streak is Acosta at 12, although the Chap outfielder was not available in the last four games against UT Tyler. Ogilvie has reached in 10 straight to be second on the team. Mendazona had a 24-game reached base streak end in the series with the Patriots.
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
Lubbock Christian played a 26-game home slate for the 2022 season. Originally dedicated on April 29, 1978 as Chaparral Stadium, the complex was renamed Hays Field in 1999 to honor the L.D., Pearl, Larry, and Daren Hays families for their dedication and commitment to the ideals and values of Lubbock Christian University. The playing dimensions of Hays Field measure 340 feet down the lines, 380 feet to the power alleys, and 400 feet to straight away center. LCU is 20-6 on their home turf this year, and the program is 1,137-343 in home games all-time.
 
2000 & 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 3,281 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,201 wins and 1,085 losses in that time. For the last 18 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 722-326 record in that time.
 
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS

• St. Edward's ranks third in the conference in walks with 235 on the season, and they have a team on-base percentage of .407
• SEU was in the No. 8 spot in the most recent NCAA South Central Regional rankings, which were announced on Wednesday
• The Hilltoppers are 6-4 in their last 10 games, taking on Texas A&M International, Texas A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M in that time
• SEU outfielder Stacey Bailey is the LSC leader in slugging percentage at .735 with nine doubles, one triple and 12 home runs
• The Hilltoppers have the third-best defense in the conference with a team fielding percentage of .969 on 1,565 total chances

 
THE SERIES WITH THE HILLTOPPERS
Lubbock Christian and St. Edward's have been meeting on the diamond since 1986, and the Chaps lead the all-time series 34-26. Most of the meetings have come in the last eight seasons, when LCU moved to NCAA Division II and joined the Heartland Conference. In 2018 alone, the Chaps and Hilltoppers faced off 10 times, with SEU winning eight of them. Last season, St. Edward's took two out of three in the regular season series, and the Chaps beat them once in the LSC Tournament.