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23_SB_Gameday30_31

It's St. Mary's on St. Patrick's Day For LCU Softball

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

Doubleheader Has LCU In Fifth Place and Hosting Fourth Place St. Mary's

LUBBOCK, Texas (March 17, 2023) – No. 11 Lubbock Christian University opens a three-game Lone Star Conference home series Friday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against St. Mary's at Maner Park.
 
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL
OPPONENT LOCATION DAY TIME (CT) WATCH STATS
St. Mary's Lubbock, Texas Fri., Mar. 17 1 p.m. Video Stats
St. Mary's Lubbock, Texas Fri., Mar. 18 3 p.m. Video Stats
St. Mary's Lubbock, Texas Sat., Mar. 18 12 p.m. Video Stats
WEATHER
 
 
LCU and StMU Series Snapshot
  • StMU leads the all-time series over LCU, 21-18.
  • LCU is 10-5 all-time against StMU at home, splitting last season's doubleheader in Lubbock. LCU dropped the opener 3-1, but rebounded with an 8-4 win.
  • Seven of the last eight LCU wins in the head-to-head series have been one-run decisions.
  • Skylar Herrera is hitting .550 (11-for-20) in six games over her career against StMU. She has seven RBI and a pair of home runs.
  • Taylor Franco has faced StMU nine times in the circle and is 3-3 with a 2.04 ERA. She has 27 strikeouts and has issued two walks in 34.1 combined innings against the Rattlers.
  • Maxine Valdez has faced StMU three times in the circle in her career and is 1-0 with a 1.56 ERA. She has 15 strikeouts in 9.0 innings against the Rattlers.
 
How is the Team Doing?
  • LCU is 21-8 this season and coming off a road series at Texas A&M-Kingsville in which they took two of three games (placed their LSC record to 11-7).
  • This season's 21-8 record includes a 10-game and six-game win streak.
  • The Lady Chaps are hitting .335 as a team (leads conference and 22nd nationally), with 25 home runs (23rd nationally) in 29 games. LCU averages 6.2 runs a contest (second in LSC and 44th nationally).
  • In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 1.82 (25th nationally and third in the LSC). Opponents are hitting .184 against LCU this season (second in the LSC). The staff has a WHIP of 0.98 (leads LSC and 10th nationally) and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.4 (leads the LSC and 20th nationally).
  • LCU leads the nation in doubles (61) and is ninth in doubles per game (2.1).
  • The Lady Chaps have batted in 167 innings this season. They have scored at least one run in 77 of them (46.1% of the innings).
  • Defensively, LCU ranks 12th nationally with a 97.5% fielding percentage. They are third in the LSC with 0.34 double plays turned per game.
 
Who is Doing What?
  • Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 8-2 this season with a 1.86 ERA in 52.2 innings pitched (also has two saves, which is tied for 14th nationally). She ranks 25th nationally in WHIP (0.87, second in LSC), 31st in hits allowed per seven innings (4.4, fifth in the LSC), 25th nationally averaging 9.2 strikeouts per seven innings and 41st in strikeouts (69, eighth in the LSC). 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. She also claimed NFCA National Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 14. Valdez is 27-11 in her career.
  • Taylor Franco is 8-6 with a 1.35 ERA (fifth in the conference) and ranks tied for fifth nationally with 11 complete games (leads LSC). She is tied for second nationally in shutouts (5), ninth in strikeouts (98), 23rd in hits allowed per seven innings (4.1), 34th in WHIP (0.91, which is third in the LSC). She claimed NFCA National Pitcher of the week honors on Mar. 1 (first of her career). On Mar. 5, she became the second Lady Chaps pitcher in program history to surpass 500 career strikeouts. This home series is her first time back home following her seventh career no-hitter, blanking Eastern New Mexico on Mar. 8 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.
    • Fourth actively in NCAA Div. II career complete games (61)
    • Fifth actively in NCAA Div. II career innings pitched (605)
    • Ninth actively in NCAA Div. II career saves (7)
    • 11th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts (517)
    • 21st actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts-per-seven innings (6.0)
    • Ranks 30th actively in NCAA Div. II career marks in ERA (2.01)
  • New Mexico State transfer Hope Banales is hitting .421 (fourth in the LSC) at the plate with a team-leading 13 doubles, which leads the LSC and is third nationally. LCU's leader in hits (32, third in the LSC) is the reigning LSC Hitter of the Week.
  • Kasey Flores leads the team in home runs (8, 21st nationally and third in the LSC), RBI (33, 11th nationally and leads the LSC), total bases (64, 23rd nationally and third in the LSC), slugging (0.842, which is 43rd nationally and OPS at 1.347). The LSC recognized Kasey as the LSC Hitter of the Week on Feb. 7. In 29 games, she has 11 multi-RBI games.
    • In her LCU career, Flores has the 10th-best slugging mark in active-career NCAA Div.II statistics, with a career slugging of .776.
    • She has 48 career home runs, which actively ranks 13th among all NCAA levels.
  • LCU has a 43-27 advantage this season in stolen bases. Berkeley Quinn leads LCU with 14 stolen bases (fourth in the LSC and 39th nationally) and Skylar Herrera has 12 thefts on the campaign (fifth in the LSC). LCU has 43 swipes and averages 1.5 in steals per game (seventh in LSC).
    • Herrera has 64 career stolen bases, which ranks 25th for active career leaders in NCAA Div. II
  • The Lady Chaps have 25 home runs this season (third in LSC) and nine different Lady Chaps have round-trippers this season.
  • Skylar Herrera ranks tied for seventh in the LSC in runs scored with 23.
    • Actively ranks 26th in NCAA Div.II in career runs (132)
    • 34th in total bases (290)
    • 44th in home runs (25)
    • 41st in RBI (116)
 
Lone Star Conference Breakdown
  • This season is LCU's fourth season in the LSC.
  • LCU is 56-30 all-time in LSC play.
  • The Lady Chaps went 23-7 last season in conference.
  • LCU is 11-7 in conference play, sitting in fifth in the LSC standings.
    • LCU is hitting .285 in conference, with 15 home runs.
    • The pitching staff has a 2.31 ERA in LSC play, with 120 strikeouts in 112.0 innings and holding opponents to a .208 batting average.
    • Hope Banales leads LCU in conference hitting .404 with a .517 on-base percentage.
    • Kasey Flores leads LCU in home runs (4) and RBI (18) in conference play.
    • Taylor Franco has a 2.13 ERA and is 5-5 with 120 strikeouts in 112.0 innings. She is averaging an allowance of 5.3 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.11, falling from No.10. They have previously been ranked ranging No.10 - 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 507-165.
  • 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. Hope Banales currently has an active six-game hit streak leading the team.
  • Banales is also the active-leading streak in games reached-base-safely at eight games. Skylar Herrera and Berkeley Quinn have this season's highest mark, reaching base safely in 11 consecutive games this season.
  • Hope Banales leads the squad with 11 multi-hit games.
  • Kasey Flores leads the team with 11 multi-RBI games.
 
Home on the Range
  • LCU is 304-47 (86.6%) all-time in home games at Maner Park.
  • Last season, LCU was 15-6 at home (17-7 in 2021).
  • This season, LCU is 16-4 at home.
  • LCU played their first 14 games at home this season, which is a program record for home games to start a season.
    • LCU is hitting .369 at home and has a 1.59 staff ERA.
    • The Lady Chaps have 19 home runs in 20 home games, with seven hit by Kasey Flores.
    • Hope Banales leads LCU with a .490 batting average at home. Kasey Flores also is hitting over .400 at home with a .453 batting average.
    • Maxine Valdez is 6-1 at home and Taylor Franco has a 0.84 ERA at home.
 
In Summary
  • LCU has a 26-10 scoring advantage in the first inning and a 32-3 advantage in the fourth inning, with their highest offensive output coming in the second inning, with a 47-16 scoring advantage. LCU is 11-1 when leading after the first inning and 19-1 when scoring first.
  • The Lady Chaps are 19-1 when leading after four innings.
  • LCU is 14-3 this season when they hit at least one home run in a game.
  • The Lady Chaps are 13-2 when errorless. They are 18-5 when their opponents commit at least one error.

Looking at StMU
  • The Rattlers went 38-19 last season, finishing seventh in the LSC with a 19-11 conference mark. StMU was a regional qualifier last season, falling in the regional final to Texas A&M-Kingsville. They are 20-8 this season and are fourth in the LSC with an 10-5 conference record.
  • StMU is hitting .266 this season and have five home runs on the season. They have a staff ERA of 1.63 and opponents are hitting .233 against them.
  • They are 5-1 in road play this season.  
  • StMU is preseason picked to finish seventh in the LSC in the LSC Preseason Poll. They are 3-1 this season against nationally ranked opponents.
  • The Rattlers lead the nation with 19 sacrifice flies. Reba Reyes and Raegan Tennill are tied for third nationally, as each has four sacrifice flies. Ericka Gomez ranks second nationally with 0.4 sacrifice bunts per game.
  • Catalina Cavazos co-leads the LSC and is tied for fifth nationally with three saves on the season. StMU has been in four one-run decisions this season and are 1-3 in those contests.
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