LAREDO, Texas (March 31, 2023) – No. 11 Lubbock Christian University makes their southernmost trip of the season this week, as they head to Texas A&M International for a three-game Lone Star Conference series, which gets underway Friday with a doubleheader at Dustdevil Softball Field.
| LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL |
| OPPONENT |
LOCATION |
DAY |
TIME (CT) |
WATCH |
STATS |
| TAMIU |
Laredo, Texas |
Fri., Mar. 31 |
12 p.m. |
Video |
Stats |
|
|
|
|
|
| TAMIU |
Laredo, Texas |
Fri., Mar. 31 |
2 p.m. |
Video |
Stats |
| TAMIU |
Laredo, Texas |
Sat., Apr. 1 |
11 a.m. |
Video |
Stats |
| WEATHER |
|
|
|
|
|
LCU and TAMIU Series Snapshot
- LCU has an 21-9 all-time series advantage over the Dustdevils.
- Lubbock Christian has won five of the prior six meetings, sweeping the season series last season in Laredo (LCU won 2-0 and 13-0 in 5 inn. on Apr. 10, 2022).
- LCU is 8-5 all-time in Laredo, as they play a conference series for a second consecutive season there.
- Five of the last eight meetings have resulted in one-run decisions.
- Kasey Flores is 3-for-5 in two career games against TAMIU with three home runs and seven RBI.
- Kamryn Gibbs is a career .500 hitter (5-for-10) in four career games against TAMIU.
- Taylor Franco has faced TAMIU three times in her career and she has a 2.53 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 19.1 innings. She has held TAMIU to a .187 batting average in her career.
How is the Team Doing?
- LCU is 30-8 this season and coming off a home series sweep of St. Edward's in LSC play (placed their LSC record to 20-7).
- This season's 30-8 record includes a current season-high 11-game win streak. They have previously enjoyed a 10-game and six-game win streak this season.
- The Lady Chaps are hitting .329 as a team (leads conference and 29th nationally), with 41 home runs (11th nationally) in 38 games. LCU averages 6.4 runs a contest (second in LSC and 34th nationally).
- In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 1.66 (12th nationally and leads the LSC). Opponents are hitting .174 against LCU this season (leads the LSC). The staff has a WHIP of 0.91 (leads LSC and fourth nationally) and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.65 (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 225 innings this season. They have scored at least one run in 99 of them (44.0% of the innings).
- Defensively, LCU ranks 15th nationally with a 97.3% fielding percentage. They are fifth in the LSC with 0.34 double plays turned per game.
Who is Doing What?
- Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 12-2 this season with a 1.65 ERA in 72.1 innings pitched (also has two saves, which is tied for 22nd nationally). She ranks ninth nationally in WHIP (0.77, leads LSC), 14th in hits allowed per seven innings (3.97, second in the LSC), 30th nationally averaging 8.7 strikeouts per seven innings and 52nd in strikeouts (90, 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 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 Mar. 21. She is 31-11 in her career.
- Taylor Franco is 11-6 with a 1.24 ERA (leads the conference) and ranks tied for sixth nationally with 14 complete games (leads LSC). She is tied for ninth nationally in shutouts (5), eighth in strikeouts (131), 19th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.2), 31st in WHIP (0.90). 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. She is the reigning LSC Pitcher of the Week.
- Franco ranks third actively in NCAA Div. II career shutouts (27), which is 10th actively at all NCAA levels
- Third actively in NCAA Div. II career innings pitched (636.0), which is 14th actively at all NCAA levels
- Fifth actively in NCAA Div. II career complete games (64), which is 13th actively at all NCAA levels
- Eighth actively in NCAA Div. II career saves (8)
- 11th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts (550)
- 24th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts-per-seven innings (6.1)
- Ranks 30th actively in NCAA Div. II career marks in ERA (1.96)
- New Mexico State transfer Hope Banales is hitting .4381 (ninth in the LSC) at the plate with a team-leading 15 doubles, which co-leads the LSC and is tied for third nationally. Banales, who has one LSC Hitter of the Week honor under her belt, has 39 hits to rank tied for 10th in the LSC.
- Kasey Flores leads the team in home runs (15, fourth nationally and second in the LSC), RBI (50, second nationally and leads the LSC), total bases (100, sixth nationally and second in the LSC), slugging (0.943, which is ninth nationally and OPS at 1.402). The LSC recognized Kasey as the LSC Hitter of the Week on Feb. 7 and the NFCA named her National Player of the Week on Mar. 28. In 38 games, she has 17 multi-RBI games.
- In her LCU career, Flores has the ninth-best slugging mark in active-career NCAA Div.II statistics, with a career slugging of .826.
- She has 55 career home runs, which actively ranks ninth among all NCAA levels.
- LCU has a 64-36 advantage this season in stolen bases. Berkeley Quinn leads LCU with 19 stolen bases (fourth in the LSC) and Skylar Herrera has 17 (sixth in the LSC) to place a pair of Lady Chaps in the top-10 in the conference in thefts. LCU has 64 swipes and averages 1.7 in steals per game (fifth in LSC).
- Herrera has 69 career stolen bases, which ranks 23rd for active career leaders in NCAA Div. II
- The Lady Chaps have 41 home runs this season (second in LSC) and 10 different Lady Chaps have round-trippers this season.
- Skyler Herrera ranks tied for fifth in the LSC in runs scored with 33.
- Actively ranks 24th in NCAA Div.II in career runs (141)
- 23rd in total bases (314)
- 34th in home runs (28)
- 39th in RBI (123)
Lone Star Conference Breakdown
- This season is LCU's fourth season in the LSC.
- LCU is 65-30 all-time in LSC play.
- The Lady Chaps went 23-7 last season in conference.
- LCU is 20-7 in conference play, sitting in third place in the LSC standings.
- LCU is hitting .294 in conference, with 31 home runs (allowed 6).
- The pitching staff has a 1.92 ERA in LSC play, with 178 strikeouts in 175.0 innings and holding opponents to a .188 batting average.
- Kasey Flores leads LCU in conference hitting .368 with a .462 on-base percentage.
- Flores also leads LCU in home runs (11) and RBI (35) in conference play.
- Taylor Franco has a 1.53 ERA and is 8-5 with 96 strikeouts in 96.0 innings. She is averaging an allowance of 4.7 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 third 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 516-165.
- 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
- Kasey Flores is riding a 10-game hit streak, which is two behind Hope Banales' season-high 12-game hit streak. Flores is hitting .455 in the past 10 games (15-for-33) with seven homers and 19 RBI.
- Skylar Herrera has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games, which is one off the team high of 15 by Hope Banales.
- Kasey Flores leads the squad with 14 multi-hit games (Tiarra Delrosario has 12).
- Flores leads the team with 15 multi-RBI games.
Road Review
- LCU is 8-4 this season in road contests.
- The Lady Chaps are hitting .284 (16 home runs) in road tilts, and contributing a 1.99 ERA in the circle (opponents hitting .203).
- Riley Flores leads LCU with a .357 average in road games. She is one of four players with at least 10 hits on the road (no Lady Chap has more than 13).
- LCU has 16 home runs on the road and hit by eight different individuals.
- Kasey Flores leads LCU with four homers and 13 RBI in road contests.
- Ashlinn Hamilton is 3-0 this season with a 1.75 ERA on the road in three appearances. Maxine Valdez is 3-1 with a save and has 24 strikeouts (four walks) in 23.1 innings
In Summary
- LCU has a 39-12 scoring advantage in the first inning and a 46-7 advantage in the fourth inning, with their highest offensive output coming in the second inning, with a 56-16 scoring advantage. LCU is 14-1 when leading after the first inning and 26-1 when scoring first.
- The Lady Chaps are 26-1 when leading after four innings.
- LCU is 23-3 this season when they hit at least one home run in a game.
- The Lady Chaps are 16-2 when errorless. They are 23-5 when their opponents commit at least one error.
Looking at TAMIU
- The Dustdevils went 16-35 last season, dropping their final two games to finish tied for 10th in the LSC with a 9-21 conference mark. They are 15-20 this season and are tied for ninth in the LSC with an 11-13 conference record.
- TAMIU is hitting .242 this season and have seven home runs on the season. They have a staff ERA of 3.12 and opponents are hitting .254 against them. They have beaned 41 batters this season (1.2 per game).
- Despite a sub-.500 record, TAMIU has an 8-4 record at home this season. The Dustdevils are riding a three-game win streak at home.
- TAMIU is preseason picked to finish 11th in the LSC in the LSC Preseason Poll.
- When it comes to small-ball, TAMIU leads the nation with 40 sacrifice bunts this season. Kristin Maldonado is ninth nationally with a pace of 0.34 sacrifice bunts per game, with Kristy Alanis ranking 11th at 0.33.
- TAMIU has five shutout wins this season, with pitcher Erika Cortez with four of them to rank tied for 13th nationally in the category.
