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23_SB_Gameday_27_28

Lady Chaps Open Kingsville Series With Saturday Doubleheader On The Road

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

LCU, Who Opened The Road Schedule With Three Consecutive Wins, Seeks To End Three-Game Road Losing Skid

KINGSVILLE, Texas (March 11, 2023) – No. 10 Lubbock Christian University opens a three-game Lone Star Conference road series Saturday with a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Texas A&M-Kingsville at Hubert Field.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL
OPPONENT LOCATION DAY TIME (CT) WATCH STATS
TAMUK Kingsville, Texas Sat., Mar. 11 4 p.m. Video Stats
TAMUK Kingsville, Texas Sat., Mar. 11 6 p.m. Video Stats
TAMUK Kingsville, Texas Sun., Mar. 12 12 p.m. Video Stats
WEATHER
 
LCU and TAMUK Series Snapshot
  • LCU has a 5-4 lead in the all-time series.
  • The two squads split a LSC series last season in Kingsville, with TAMUK winning the opener 5-1, but LCU rebounding with a 4-3 win in the second game.
  • LCU is 3-1 all-time in Kingsville.
  • Maxine Valdez is LCU's only active pitcher with a career win over TAMUK and s 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA against the Javelinas.
 
How is the Team Doing?
  • LCU is 19-7 this season and coming off a three-game home sweep over Eastern New Mexico (placed their LSC record to 9-6).
  • This season's 19-7 stretch includes a 10-game and six-game win streak.
  • The Lady Chaps are hitting .342 as a team (leads conference and 20th nationally), with 24 home runs (14th nationally) in 26 games. LCU averages 6.2 runs a contest (second in LSC and 43rd  nationally).
  • In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 1.72 (18th nationally and third in the LSC). Opponents are hitting .174 against LCU this season (leads the LSC). The staff has a WHIP of 0.94 (leads LSC and fifth nationally) and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.36 (ranks second in LSC and 26th nationally).
  • LCU leads the nation in doubles (53) and is 16th in doubles per game (2.0).
  • The Lady Chaps have batted in 148 innings this season. They have scored at least one run in 70 of them (47.3% of the innings).
  • Defensively, LCU ranks ninth nationally with a 97.7% fielding percentage. They are third in the LSC with 0.35 double plays turned per game.
 
Who is Doing What?
  • Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 7-2 this season with a 2.10 ERA in 46.2 innings pitched (also has a save). She ranks 38th nationally in WHIP (0.90), 45th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.5), 27th nationally averaging 9.3 strikeouts per seven innings and 35th in strikeouts (62). 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 26-11 in her career.
  • Taylor Franco is 8-5 with a 0.98 ERA (34th nationally) and ranks tied for fourth nationally with 10 complete games. She is second nationally in shutouts (5), seventh in strikeouts (93), 14th in hits allowed per seven innings (3.7), 23rd in WHIP (0.83). She claimed NFCA National Pitcher of the week honors this week (first of her career) on Mar. 1. On Mar. 5, she became the second Lady Chaps pitcher in program history to surpass 500 career strikeouts. She enters the series following her seventh career no-hitter, blanking Eastern New Mexico to become the 14th NCAA Division II player to reach seven career no-hitters (it was the program's 26th no-hitter).
    • Franco ranks third actively in NCAA Div. II career shutouts (27), which is seventh actively at all NCAA levels.
    • Fifth actively in NCAA Div. II career innings pitched (597)
    • Fifth actively in NCAA Div. II career complete games (60)
    • Ninth actively in NCAA Div. II career saves (7)
    • 10th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts (512)
    • 18th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts-per-seven innings (6.0)
    • Ranks 24th actively in NCAA Div. II career marks in ERA (1.97)
  • New Mexico State transfer Hope Banales is hitting .424 (fourth in the LSC) at the plate with a team-leading 10 doubles, which co-leads the LSC and fourth nationally.
  • Kasey Flores co-leads the team in hits (28, 56th nationally and tied for fifth in the LSC with Banales) and leads the team in home runs (8, 12th nationally and third in the LSC), RBI (31, fifth nationally and leads the LSC), total bases (62, 11th nationally and third in the LSC), slugging (0.912, which is 31st nationally and OPS at 1.441). She ranks ninth in the LSC hitting .412 on the season. The LSC recognized Kasey as the LSC Hitter of the Week on Feb. 7. In 26 games, she has 10 multi-RBI games.
    • In her career, Flores has the fifth-best slugging mark in active-career NCAA Div.II statistics, with a career slugging of .795.
    • She has 48 career home runs, which actively ranks 13th among all NCAA levels.
  • LCU has a 42-22 advantage this season in stolen bases. Berkeley Quinn leads LCU with 14 stolen bases (fourth in the LSC and 23rd nationally) and Skylar Herrera has 11 thefts on the campaign (fifth in the LSC and 47th nationally). LCU has 42 swipes and averages 1.6 in steals per game (sixth in LSC).
    • Herrera has 63 career stolen bases, which ranks 24th for active career leaders in NCAA Div. II
  • The Lady Chaps have 24 home runs this season (third in LSC) and nine different Lady Chaps have round-trippers this season.
  • Skyler Herrera ranks tied for seventh in the LSC in runs scored with 21.
    • Actively ranks 25th in NCAA Div.II in career runs (130)
    • 31st in total bases (286)
    • 37th in home runs (25)
    • 38th in RBI (115)
 
Lone Star Conference Breakdown
  • This season is LCU's fourth season in the LSC.
  • LCU is 54-29 all-time in LSC play.
  • The Lady Chaps went 23-7 last season in conference.
  • LCU is 9-6 in conference play, sitting tied for sixth in the LSC standings.
    • LCU is hitting .284 in conference, with 14 home runs.
    • The pitching staff has a 2.23 ERA in LSC play, with 104 strikeouts in 94.0 innings and holding opponents to a .196 batting average.
    • Hope Banales leads LCU in conference hitting .405 with a .542 on-base percentage.
    • Kasey Flores leads LCU in home runs (4) and RBI (16) in conference play.
    • Taylor Franco has a 1.34 ERA and is 5-4 with 58 strikeouts in 57.1 innings. She is averaging an allowance of 4.2 hits per seven innings in LSC 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. LCU is currently ranked No.10, falling from No.7. They have previously been ranked No.9, No.8 and No.7 this season.

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 Saturday with a softball record of 505-164.
  • Along with surpassing 500 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
  • Berkeley Quinn has the longest streak of the season at eight games. She currently has an active six-game hit streak leading the team.
  • Quinn is also the active-leading streak in games reached-base-safely at 10 games. Skylar Herrera has this season's highest mark, reaching base safely in 11 consecutive games this season.
  • Kasey Flores and Hope Banales co-lead the squad with 10 multi-hit games.
  • Kasey Flores also leads the team with 10 multi-RBI games.
 
Road Review
  • LCU is 3-3 this season in road contests.
  • The Lady Chaps are hitting .252 (five home runs) in road tilts, and contributing a 2.14 ERA in the circle (opponents hitting .220).
  • Berkeley Quinn leads LCU with a .333 average in road games. She is tied with Skylar Hererra with five hits.
  • LCU has five home runs on the road and hit by five different individuals.
  • Kasey Flores leads LCU with six RBI in road contests.
  • Ashlinn Hamilton is 1-0 this season with a 1.50 ERA on the road in two appearances. Taylor Franco has allowed two hits and has 17 strikeouts in 18.0 road innings and is holding opponents to a .209 average. Maxine Valdez is 1-1 with 12 strikeouts (three walks) in 12.2 innings.
 
In Summary
  • LCU has a 26-6 scoring advantage in the first inning and a 30-2 advantage in the fourth inning, with their highest offensive output coming in the second inning, with a 40-16 scoring advantage. LCU is 11-1 when leading after the first inning and 18-1 when scoring first.
  • The Lady Chaps are 18-1 when leading after four innings.
  • LCU is 13-3 this season when they hit at least one home run in a game.
  • The Lady Chaps are 12-2 when errorless. They are 16-4 when their opponents commit at least one error.

Looking at TAMUK
  • The Javelinas went 50-12 last season, finishing tied for second in the LSC with a 23-7 conference mark (tied with LCU in conference). TAMUK qualified for the NCAA Super Regionals, falling to UT Tyler in a best-of-three series. They are 11-9 this season and are fifth in the LSC with an 8-4 conference record.
  • TAMUK is hitting .273 this season and have 14 home runs on the season. They have a staff ERA of 3.41 and opponents are hitting .253 against them.
  • They are 3-3 at home this season.
  • TAMUK is preseason picked to finish third in the LSC in the LSC Preseason Poll and they received one first-place vote.
  • Doug Eastman opened the season as head coach and was in his first season leading TAMUK, but a change was made after the opening weekend and Orlando Salinas is serving as the interim head coach.
  • Kayla Gonzales leads the nation as the toughest to strikeout. Hitting .435 to lead the Javelinas, Gonzales has one strikeout in 62 at-bats this season.
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