Lubbock Christians (16-13 15-13) at
Texas A&M-International (14-20, 13-19)
 
WARMING UP
The Lubbock Christian University baseball team is looking to rebound the sweep it suffered last weekend at the hands of No. 3 Angelo State as they travel South to Laredo, Texas for a series against Texas A&M-International. The four-game sweep was the first suffered by the Chaps since the 2020 season, and LCU has not lost five games in a row since 2021, when they dropped five straight to St. Mary's and ASU. The Dustdevils currently sit three spots back of the Chaps in the Lone Star Conference standings. They dropped three of four last weekend at St. Mary's.
 
FIRST PITCH

• LCU ranks No. 3 in all of Division II this season with 14 triples on the year
• TAMIU has a team ERA of 8.12, which is the second-worst mark in the LSC
• Chap shortstop Carson Ogilvie's 15 doubles lead the LSC and are the fourth-most in the nation
• After this weekend's road trip, Lubbock Christian will return home for five games, including a midweek contest next Tuesday against former NAIA rival Wayland Baptist
• TAMIU only has two eligible players (75% of games played) who are hitting above the .300 mark

SLUG IT OUT
Lubbock Christian comes into the weekend as one of the top offensive teams in the Lone Star Conference. They rank in the top 25 nationally in batting average (No. 9), total hits (No. 12), doubles (No. 7), triples (No.3), scoring (No. 12), slugging percentage (No. 12) and sacrifice flies (No. 11). They are currently averaging 9.2 runs per game. Five of the regular Chaparral starters are batting above the .350 mark, led by Eduardo Acosta's .446 mark, which is second in the LSC. Ogilvie is currently second in the league in runs scored with 45, and first basemen Nate Van Maanen is tie for third in the LSC with 44 RBI.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
This weekend will mark games 13-16 on the road for the Chaparrals this season, where they are currently 7-5, including series splits at St. Mary's and at UT Permian Basin and a road series win at Arkansas-Fort Smith. Van Maanen and center fielder Chris Shull have been the two best hitters away from home so far this season, with Shull reaching base at a .554 clip and Van Maanen driving in 18 runs. Ayden Alger has been the best LCU hurler on the road, grabbing three of his wins there and posting an ERA pf 0.95 in 19 innings of work.
 
DOUBLE OR NOTHING
On the defensive side of the ball, Lubbock Christian has also earned a top-ten ranking in double plays, which they have turned 26 of this season. That number is second in the conference, only behind UT Tyler's 32. The Chap pitching staff is fairly neutral in how they record their outs, but they have recorded 12 more on the ground (99) than they have through the air (87). LCU's fielding percentage of .966 is right in the middle of the LSC, with a middle infield usually comprising of Ogilvie and either Caden Hensley or Sam Shank.
 
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
Lubbock Christian catchers have done well in limiting opposing teams run-games so far this season, allowing stolen bases at just a .741 clip. The Chaps have caught 15 runners stealing, which is tied for the third-most among LSC teams. Behind the dish, duties have been split between Jarred Gibson, Bo Hogeboom and Jaxson Edwards. Gibson has the most starts at catcher with 14 and the most runners caught with six. Edwards has gunned down four and Hogeboom three.
 
SETTING THE TABLE
To keep the Chap offense clicking on all cylinders and averaging 9.2 runs per game, the leadoff batters have to do a good job getting on base, and so far this season they've done just that. Chap batters have an on-base percentage of .449 when leading off an inning. Far and away the best at getting an inning going has been Acosta, who is 17-24 in reaching base as the leadoff man for a .708 OBP. Ogilvie, who is most often in the top spot in the lineup, reaches at a .444 clip. LCU has also hit four leadoff home runs this season.
 
SOLO SHOTS
Although they rank fourth in the conference (and No. 38 nationally) with 33 home runs, a whopping 18 of the Chaps' round-trippers (54.5 percent) have come without any runners on base. Gibson and Shull are tied for the most solo shots with four apiece. Only one of Gibson's home runs has come with a runner on base, while Shull has driven in teammates with homers three times.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
Both Shull and Van Maanen had reached-base streaks of 26 games snapped in the most recent series against ASU, leaving outfielder Hayden Blair with the team's longest active streak – nine games. Blair has not only reached base in all nine of those contests, he has hits in all of them as well. Ogilvie still leads the team in multi-hit games with 15, while Shull and Van Maanen are tied for the team lead with 10 multi-RBI games apiece.
 
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 3,317 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,217 wins and 1,100 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 738-341 record in that time.
 
SCOUTING THE DUSTDEVILS

• TAMIU ranks in the bottom half of the league in fielding percentage at .952. Their 53 errors committed are the third-most in the LSC
• Despite the high ERA of the staff, junior righty Jan Cabrera has been effective on the mound, posting a 4-2 record and 3.33 ERA in 46.0 innings of work
• The Dustdevils have exactly the same record at the friendly confines of Jorge Haynes Field (7-10) that they do on the road this season
• TAMIU's offense is led by Matt Kissamis, who's .345 batting average and .504 slugging percentage both lead the team
• The Dustdevils, like the Chaps, have series wins against Cameron and Arkansas-Fort Smith