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Streaking Teams Start Series Saturday With Doubleheader

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

LCU (8) and SEU (6) Each Riding Win Streaks Into LSC Series

LUBBOCK, Texas (March 25, 2023) – No. 11 Lubbock Christian University returns home in Lone Star Conference play and opens a three-game series hosting St. Edward's with a Friday doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. at Maner Park.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL
OPPONENT LOCATION DAY TIME (CT) WATCH STATS
St. Edward's Lubbock, Texas Sat., Mar. 25 1 p.m. Video Stats
St. Edward's Lubbock, Texas Sat., Mar. 25 3 p.m. Video Stats
St. Edward's Lubbock, Texas Sun., Mar. 26 1 p.m. Video Stats
WEATHER
 
LCU and SEU Series Snapshot
  • LCU leads the all-time series over SEU, 20-8, winning nine of the prior 11 encounters.
  • Last season, swept the Hilltoppers in a LSC doubleheader on 7-2 and 2-0 on April 24, 2022 behind strong starting pitching performances from Taylor Franco and Maxine Valdez.
  • LCU is 13-2 all-time against SEU in Lubbock, winning the previous five home meetings.
  • Skylar Herrera is batting .316 in seven career games against SEU with six hits, a homer and six RBI.
  • Taylor Franco is 4-1 in her career against SEU, posting a 2.45 ERA in seven career appearances. Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 2-0 all-time against the 'toppers and has not allowed a run off six hits in 10.0 career innings head-to-head. She has 10 strikeouts in 10.0 innings (0 walks).
 
How is the Team Doing?
  • LCU is 27-8 this season and coming off a home series sweep of St. Mary's in LSC play (placed their LSC record to 17-7).
  • This season's 27-8 record includes a 10-game and six-game win streak, and they are currently on an eight-game win streak.
  • The Lady Chaps are hitting .335 as a team (leads conference and 26th nationally), with 38 home runs (11th nationally) in 35 games. LCU averages 6.5 runs a contest (second in LSC and 30th nationally).
  • In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 1.76 (18th nationally and leads the LSC). Opponents are hitting .173 against LCU this season (leads the LSC). The staff has a WHIP of 0.92 (leads LSC and fourth nationally) and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.56 (leads the LSC and 20th nationally).
  • LCU leads the nation in doubles (70) and is 10th in doubles per game (2.0).
  • The Lady Chaps have batted in 207 innings this season. They have scored at least one run in 94 of them (45.4% of the innings).
  • Defensively, LCU ranks 10th nationally with a 97.5% fielding percentage. They are fifth in the LSC with 0.29 double plays turned per game.
 
Who is Doing What?
  • Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 11-2 this season with a 1.82 ERA in 65.1 innings pitched (also has two saves, which is tied for 19th nationally). She ranks 11th nationally in WHIP (0.78, leads LSC), 16th in hits allowed per seven innings (3.96, second in the LSC), 19th nationally averaging 9.1 strikeouts per seven innings and 43rd in strikeouts (85, seventh in the LSC). On Feb. 11, Valdez posted a complete game no-hitter against Chadron State. She completed her second no-hitter of the season Mar.17 in a win over St. Mary's, which was her second of the season and fourth of her career. Valdez also claimed NFCA National Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 14 and was Co-Pitcher of the week in the LSC last week. She is 30-11 in her career.
  • Taylor Franco is 10-6 with a 1.28 ERA (leads the conference) and ranks tied for sixth nationally with 13 complete games (leads LSC). She is tied for fifth nationally in shutouts (5), seventh in strikeouts (121), 19th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.1), 29th in WHIP (0.91). 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. She blanked Eastern New Mexico on Mar. 8 to become the 14th NCAA Division II player to reach seven career no-hitters.
    • Franco ranks third actively in NCAA Div. II career shutouts (27), which is ninth actively at all NCAA levels
    • Fourth actively in NCAA Div. II career complete games (63), which is 12th actively at all NCAA levels
    • Third actively in NCAA Div. II career innings pitched (626.7)
    • 10th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts (540)
    • 14th actively in NCAA Div. II career saves (7)
    • 21st actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts-per-seven innings (6.0)
    • Ranks 31st actively in NCAA Div. II career marks in ERA (1.98)
  • New Mexico State transfer Hope Banales is hitting .400 (fifth in the LSC) at the plate with a team-leading 14 doubles, which leads the LSC and is third nationally. Banales, who has one LSC Hitter of the Week honor under her belt, has 38 hits to rank eighth in the LSC.
  • Kasey Flores leads the team in home runs (13, sixth nationally and second in the LSC), RBI (44, third nationally and leads the LSC), total bases (87, sixth nationally and third in the LSC), slugging (0.906, which is 20th nationally and OPS at 1.402). The LSC recognized Kasey as the LSC Hitter of the Week on Feb. 7. In 35 games, she has 15 multi-RBI games.
    • In her LCU career, Flores has the seventh-best slugging mark in active-career NCAA Div.II statistics, with a career slugging of .807.
    • She has 53 career home runs, which actively ranks ninth among all NCAA levels.
  • LCU has a 58-33 advantage this season in stolen bases. Berkeley Quinn leads LCU with 18 stolen bases (fourth in the LSC) and Skylar Herrera has 16 (fifth in the LSC) to place a pair of Lady Chaps in the top-five in the conference in thefts. LCU has 58 swipes and averages 1.7 in steals per game (fifth in LSC).
    • Herrera has 68 career stolen bases, which ranks 20th for active career leaders in NCAA Div. II
  • The Lady Chaps have 38 home runs this season (third in LSC) and 10 different Lady Chaps have round-trippers this season.
  • Skyler Herrera ranks fourth in the LSC in runs scored with 31.
    • Actively ranks 23rd in NCAA Div.II in career runs (139)
    • 25th in total bases (308)
    • 33rd in home runs (28)
    • 37th in RBI (123)
 
Lone Star Conference Breakdown
  • This season is LCU's fourth season in the LSC.
  • LCU is 62-30 all-time in LSC play.
  • The Lady Chaps went 23-7 last season in conference.
  • LCU is 17-7 in conference play, sitting in a share of third place in the LSC standings.
    • LCU is hitting .298 in conference, with 28 home runs (allowed 6).
    • The pitching staff has a 2.09 ERA in LSC play, with 161 strikeouts in 154.0 innings and holding opponents to a .188 batting average.
    • Hope Banales leads LCU in conference hitting .379 with a .475 on-base percentage.
    • Kasey Flores leads LCU in home runs (9) and RBI (29) in conference play.
    • Taylor Franco has a 1.62 ERA and is 7-5 with 86 strikeouts in 86.2 innings. She is averaging an allowance of 4.6 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, which is a spot they are in their second week of holding. 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 513-165.
  • 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
  • Hope Banales currently has an active 12-game hit streak leading the team, which is the highest by a Lady Chap this season. Banales is hitting .436 (17/39) during the current hit streak. Tierra Delrosario is riding an eight-game hitting streak, which has her leading the team with 39 hits (she has 14 hits over the past eight games).
  • Banales is also the active-leading streak in games reached-base-safely at 14 games, which is the highest by a Lady Chap this season. Skylar Herrera has reached base safely in 11 consecutive games.
  • Tiarra Delrosario and Kasey Flores co-lead the squad with 12 multi-hit games (Hope Banales has 11).
  • Kasey Flores leads the team with 15 multi-RBI games.
 
Home on the Range
  • LCU is 307-47 (86.7%) all-time in home games at Maner Park.
  • Last season, LCU was 15-6 at home (17-7 in 2021).
  • This season, LCU is 19-4 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 .363 at home and has a 1.64 staff ERA.
  • The Lady Chaps have 22 home runs in 23 home games, with nine hit by Kasey Flores.
  • Hope Banales leads LCU with a .458 batting average at home. Kasey Flores  (.452) and Tiarra Delrosario (.409) are also each hitting over .400 at home.
  • Maxine Valdez is 8-1 at home and Taylor Franco is 8-3 and has a 0.91 ERA at home. Valdez is averaging 10.2 strikeouts per seven innings at home.
 
In Summary
  • LCU has a 33-12 scoring advantage in the first inning and a 46-6 advantage in the fourth inning, with their highest offensive output coming in the second inning, with a 52-16 scoring advantage. LCU is 12-1 when leading after the first inning and 20-1 when scoring first.
  • The Lady Chaps are 23-1 when leading after four innings.
  • LCU is 20-3 this season when they hit at least one home run in a game.
  • The Lady Chaps are 16-2 when errorless. They are 21-5 when their opponents commit at least one error.

Looking at SEU
  • The Hilltoppers went 9-21 last season, dropping their final 10 games to finish tied for 10th in the LSC with a 9-21 conference mark. They are 18-11 this season and are fifth in the LSC with a 12-8 conference record.
  • SEU is hitting .262 this season and have six home runs on the season. They have a staff ERA of 2.17 and opponents are hitting .219 against them. SEU has only allowed three home runs on the season.
  • They are 5-4 this season on the road and come to Lubbock on a three-game road win streak (overall, they have won six consecutive games).  
  • SEU is preseason picked to finish ninth in the LSC in the LSC Preseason Poll.
  • The 'toppers rank second in the LSC and 37th nationally in stolen bases per game with a pace of 2.2 per game. Despite that, SEU does not have a base stealer ranking in the top-10 in the conference in stolen bases.
  • Cadie Currie ranks tied for fifth nationally with five shutouts in the circle. She is 9-3 with a 1.33 ERA.
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