WICHITA FALLS, Texas (February 21, 2023) – After a program-record 14 consecutive home games to open the season, No.8 Lubbock Christian University hits the road for the first time and for their first Lone Star Conference road series, as they open a three-game series at Midwestern State Tuesday.
| LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL |
| OPPONENT |
LOCATION |
DAY |
TIME (CT) |
WATCH |
STATS |
| Midwestern St. |
Wichita Falls, Texas |
Tue., Feb. 21 |
6 p.m. |
Video |
Stats |
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| Midwestern St. |
Wichita Falls, Texas |
Wed., Feb. 22 |
12 p.m. |
Video |
Stats |
| Midwestern St. |
Wichita Falls, Texas |
Wed., Feb. 22 |
2 p.m. |
Video |
Stats |
| WEATHER |
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LCU and MSU Series Snapshot
- MSU has a 5-4 lead in the all-time series.
- The prior two meetings (doubleheader) were in Wichita Falls last season (Apr. 3, 2022), where LCU won 11-2 in five innings and 5-4 in seven innings.
- Skylar Herrera had a two-home run game, including a home run in the top of the seventh inning to give LCU the lead.
- Taylor Franco received the win in each game.
- Last season's series was the first-ever games in Wichita Falls for LCU, giving them a 2-0 all-time record at MSU.
- Taylor Franco is 3-1 in her career against MSU, with a 1.98 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 17.2 innings of work.
- Kamryn Gibbs has the best active career batting average against MSU with a .571 average (4-for-7) in four games.
- Tiarra Delrosario is 3-for-6 in two career games against MSU.
- Skylar Herrera has played four career games against MSU and is batting .500 (6/12) with three homers and four RBI.
How is the Team Doing?
- LCU is 10-4 this season and all 14 prior games have been played at home.
- Lubbock Christian's season has been bookended with losses. After dropping their season opener (first home opening loss in program history), LCU won 10 straight games, but the streak ended with three straight losses to No.2 UT Tyler. All four of LCU's losses have been to nationally ranked programs.
- The Lady Chaps are hitting .380 as a team (sixth nationally), with 13 home runs (15th nationally) in 14 games. LCU averages 6.8 runs a contest (16th nationally).
- In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 1.92 (third in the LSC). Opponents are hitting .172 against LCU this season (leads LSC). The staff has a WHIP of 0.93 (second nationally) and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.41 (ranks 10th nationally).
- LCU leads the nation in doubles (35) and is sixth in doubles per game (2.5).
- The Lady Chaps have batted in 75 innings this season. They have scored at least one run in 41 of them (54.7% of the innings).
- Defensively, LCU ranks 13th nationally with a 97.8% fielding percentage. They are tied for second in the LSC with 6 double plays turned.
Who is Doing What?
- Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 4-1 this season with a 2.30 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched. She ranks sixth nationally in WHIP (.75), seventh in hits allowed per seven innings (3.0), 38th nationally averaging 9.2 strikeouts per seven innings and 42nd in strikeouts (28). On Feb. 11, Valdez posted a complete game no-hitter against Chadron State, which was the third of her LCU career and led to LSC Pitcher of the Week honors. Valdez is 23-10 in her career.
- Taylor Franco is 3-3 with a 1.02 ERA and ranks tied for fifth nationally with five complete games. She has a pace of 7.9 strikeouts per seven innings.
- Franco ranks third actively in NCAA Div. II career shutouts (24), which is seventh actively at all NCAA levels.
- Fifth actively in NCAA Div. II career complete games (55)
- Fifth actively in NCAA Div. II career innings pitched (553.0)
- Seventh actively in NCAA Div. II career saves (7)
- 11th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts (465)
- 13th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts-per-seven innings (5.9)
- Ranks 18th actively in NCAA Div. II career marks in ERA (2.05)
- New Mexico State transfer Hope Banales is hitting .429 (11th in the LSC) at the plate with a team-leading seven doubles, which co-leads the LSC.
- Kasey Flores leads the team in hits (18, 18th nationally and tied for second in the LSC) and leads the team in home runs (6, tied-sixth nationally and co-leads the LSC), RBI (20, 12th nationally and leads the LSC), total bases (42, ninth nationally and leads the LSC), slugging (1.105, which is 23rd nationally and OPS at 1.688). She ranks third in the LSC hitting .474 on the season. The LSC recognized Kasey as the LSC Hitter of the Week last week. In 14 games, she has eight multi-RBI games.
- In her career, Flores has the fourth-best slugging mark in active-career NCAA Div.II statistics, with a career slugging of .797.
- She has 46 career home runs.
- LCU has a 32-10 advantage this season in stolen bases. Berkeley Quinn leads LCU with 10 stolen bases (fourth in the LSC) and Skylar Herrera has nine thefts on the campaign (fifth in the LSC). LCU has 32 swipes and averages 2.3 in steals per game.
- Herrera has 61 career stolen bases, which ranks 17th for active career leaders in NCAA Div. II
- The Lady Chaps have 13 home runs this season (fourth in LSC) and seven different Lady Chaps have round-trippers this season.
- Skylar Herrera ranks third in the LSC in runs per game (1.14), sixth in hits (14) and 21st in on-base percentage (.469) and tied for 17th in total bases (21).
- Actively ranks 17th in NCAA Div.II in career runs (125)
- 25th in total bases (271)
- 34th in home runs (24)
- 34th in RBI (109)
- 43rd in slugging (.646)
- 46th in hits (152) and batting average (.361)
Lone Star Conference Breakdown
- This season is LCU's fourth season in the LSC.
- LCU is 45-26 all-time in LSC play.
- The Lady Chaps went 23-7 last season in conference.
- LCU is 0-3 in conference play
- LCU is hitting .240 in conference, with three home runs.
- The pitching staff has a 5.16 ERA in LSC play, with 18 strikeouts in 19.0 innings and holding opponents to a .274 batting average.
- Tiarra Delrosario is 4-for-10 (.400), leading LCU in hits in conference play.
- Kasey Flores leads LCU in home runs (2) and RBI (5) in conference play.
Season Expectations
- The Lady Chaps are preseason picked to finish fourth in the Lone Star Conference.
- LCU is in their ninth season playing a NCAA Division II schedule (2013 was their last season in NAIA) and this is their fourth season as members of the Lone Star Conference.
- There are 15 softball programs in the LSC this season. The major difference from last season to this season is Texas A&M-Commerce made the move to NCAA Division I.
National Notes
- Lubbock Christian is 0-4 this season against nationally ranked programs.
- The Lady Chaps went 9-10 last season (2022) against nationally ranked programs.
- LCU opened the season No.21 in the NFCA National Top-25 Coaches Preseason Poll. Last week they were ranked No.8.
Coach Talk
- LCU head coach Daren Hays is in his 13th season at the helm of the Lady Chaps.
- Hays is LCU's winningest softball head coach, entering Friday with a softball record of 496-161.
- Along with surpassing 400 coaching wins in softball, Hays had surpassed 300 wins as a collegiate baseball head coach. He spent eight seasons as the LCU baseball head coach and compiled a 356-163 record.
Streaking Along
- Victoria Owens is LCU's active hit-streak leader, as she enter the series on a three-game hit streak. Berkeley Quinn has the longest streak of the season at eight games.
- Hayden Brown has the active-leading streak in games reached-base-safely at five games. Skylar Herrera has this season's highest mark, reaching base safely in 11 consecutive games this season.
- Hope Banales and Kasey Flores are each co-leading the squad with five multi-hit games.
- Kasey Flores leads the team with eight multi-RBI games.
In Summary
- LCU has a 19-2 scoring advantage in the first inning, with their highest offensive output coming in the second inning, with a 29-12 scoring advantage. LCU is 7-1 when leading after the first inning and 10-1 when scoring first.
- The Lady Chaps are 10-1 when leading after four innings.
- LCU is 7-2 this season when they hit at least one home run in a game.
- The Lady Chaps are 7-0 when errorless. They are 10-2 when their opponents commit at least one error.
Looking at MSU
- The Mustangs went 8-37 last season, finishing tied for 14th in the LSC with a 7-23 conference mark. They are 1-9 this season and are tied for 10th in the LSC with a 0-3 conference record.
- MSU is hitting .206 this season and have two home runs on the season. They have a staff ERA of 4.70 and opponents are hitting .303 against them. They have only allowed two home runs this season.
- They are 1-2 at home this season, with the lone win coming Feb. 12 over Northwestern Oklahoma State.
- MSU is preseason picked to finish 13th in the LSC in the LSC Preseason Poll.
- Jasmine Trevino leads MSU with a 1.62 ERA, which ranks ninth in the LSC. She is holding opponents to a .179 batting average.
- Kayla Bryant leads MSU in hits (8) and co-leads the team in RBI with four.
