SAN ANTONIO, Texas - In their final conference series before the bye week, Lubbock Christian looks to keep moving up the conference standings, facing St. Mary's in a four game series, beginning on Friday, Mar. 10.

Lubbock Christian (13-7, 13-7 LSC) at St. Mary's (8-9, 7-9 LSC) 
Friday, Mar. 10 - 6:00 PM
Saturday, Mar. 11 - 2:00 PM & 5:00 PM
Sunday, Mar. 12 - 1:00 PM
San Antonio, Texas - Dickson Field

LEADING OFF 
Lubbock Christian is coming off a 3-1 series victory against Oklahoma Christian. After being down as much as 4-0 and 6-2 in game one, the Chaps scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth, as a walk-off, two-RBI double from Chris Shull gave LCU the 9-8 win in thrilling fashion. After dropping game two 12-3, the Chaps responded with four runs in the bottom of the third inning to knock off the Eagles 4-3. Andrew Duran pitched all seven innings, allowing three runs of six hits, walking one batter and striking out four. In the series finale, the Chaps found themselves down 5-0 after the top of the first inning, but were not down for long, scoring 25 unanswered runs in a 25-8 rout of Oklahoma Christian. Nate Van Maanen finished 5-for-5 with 10 RBI, three home runs, and five runs scored. He ties the school record for RBI in a single game set by Britt Harper on Feb. 9, 2000, a 23-4 win for the Chaps over Eastern New Mexico. He is also the first Chaparral to hit three home runs in a game since Larry Leitha did so on May 8, 2021, oddly enough also against Oklahoma Christian. Carson Ogilvie went 4-for-5, hitting for the cycle with a single, a double, a triple, and a home run, the first Chap to do so since Caleb Koedyker did so against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Apr. 13, 2017. Ogilvie finished with four runs and three RBI.

THE CHAPARRAL NINE
• Lubbock Christian is second in the conference with 188 runs scored, the fifth-most in D-II. The group's 25 runs scored on March 5 vs OC are the most LCU has scored in an LSC game, and the most since scoring 28 runs vs Newman in 2019.
• The Chap infield defense has been fantastic this season, as the group's 18 double plays are fourth in the country and lead the LSC
• Van Maanen leads the conference with 33 RBI, second-most in all of D-II. His teammate Shull ranks second in the LSC and fourth in D-II with 32 RBI. Van Maanen was also named LSC Co-Hitter of the Week on March 7.
• Eduardo Acosta leads the conference and all of Division-II with 33 runs scored

ACOASTING
Eduardo Acosta has been raking at the dish this season as he leads the conference and the country with 33 runs and is third in the LSC in batting average (.450). His 36 total hits are the second-most in the LSC this season and rank third in Division-II. 

THAT'S OFFENSIVE
LCU has scored at will this season, as the Chaparrals 188 total runs are the second-most in the Lone Star Conference and fifth in Division-II. The Chaps' 225 hits lead the conference and are the fifth-most in the country. Lubbock Christian leads the nation with 11 triples, as Ogilvie is third in the country with three. The team's 52 doubles lead the LSC and are third most in D-II, with Ogilvie leading the country with 11 doubles so far this season. 

TWENTY-ONE, CAN YA DO SOMETHING FOR ME?
Nate Van Maanen leads the conference and ranks second in all of Division-II with 33 RBI this season. On March 5 vs OC, he finished 5-for-5 with 10 RBI, three home runs, and five runs scored. He ties the school record for RBI in a single game set by Britt Harper on Feb. 9, 2000, a 23-4 win for the Chaps over Eastern New Mexico. He is also the first Chaparral to hit three home runs in a game since Larry Leitha did so on May 8, 2021, oddly enough also against Oklahoma Christian. On defense, Van Maanen has been a stalwart at first base, with a .985 fielding percentage and has turned 13 double plays

YO MANYO
Tyler Manyo has been a solid closer for the Chaparrals this season, earning three saves, including two this weekend at UAFS. In his first appearance in the 15th inning against the Lions, Manyo struck out one batter and ended the marathon matchup with a 1-2-3 inning to preserve the 9-8 win. Manyo pitched three innings on Feb. 24 in an 11-0 win for the Chaps, walking one and striking out three batters, allowing one hit on just 40 pitches. Manyo's three saves are tied for second in the conference.

PITCHER'S BEST FRIEND
Pitchers on the LCU staff have benefitted from a solid infield defense behind them. Acosta at third, Carson Ogilvie at shortstop and Caden Hensley and Ryan Ball have split playing time at second so far this season. Nate Van Maanen and Jarred Gibson have split time at first base. The Chaparral infield has turned 18 double plays so far this season, the most in the LSC and the fourth most in all of Division-II.

REGIONALLY RECOGNIZED
In the NCBWA preseason regional poll, the Chaps were voted seventh, earning 28 points. It is the first time the Chaps have been ranked in the NCBWA preseason region poll since 2018, when LCU was picked second in the initial region rankings. Eduardo Acosta earned All-Region Team honors for the first time in his career. Acosta is the first Chap to earn NCBWA Preseason All-Region honors since Chandler Casey and Andrew Pratt were named to the team in 2019.
Acosta was also the first Chap to be honored with a regional weekly award from the NCBWA since Chandler Casey earned South Central Region Pitcher of the Week on May 1, 2019, being named NCBWA Region Hitter of the Week on Feb. 8.

STREAKS AND MULTIS
Acosta saw his hitting streak of 22 games snapped on Feb. 17 against UT Tyler, going 0-for-3. Ogilvie also saw his hit streak end at 14 straight games, also going 0-for-3 on Feb. 17. The longest hitting streak now belongs to Brevin McCool, having recorded a hit in nine straight games. Acosta leads the Chaps in reaching base, having reached base in 30 straight games. Shull and Van Maanen saw their impressive hit streaks end against UAFS of 15 and 14 games respectively, but both have reached base in 16 straight games.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lubbock Christian will play 24 games on the road this season, all of those being Lone Star Conference matchups. The Chaps will travel as far away from Lubbock as Fort Smith, Arkansas (529 miles) and Laredo, Texas (524 miles), but will also stay close to home with trips to Odessa, Texas (119 miles) and Portales, N.M (91 miles). LCU went 14-10 on the road last season, but won only two road series, taking three out of four games from Texas A&M-Kingsville and sweeping Oklahoma Christian. Lubbock Christian has not had a losing record in away games in a full season since 2018 when they went 11-12 away from Hays Field. The Chaps did go 5-8 away from home in the COVID shortened 2020 campaign.

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 3,308 games throughout all those years, posting an overall program record of 2,214 wins and 1,094 losses in that time. For the last 20 seasons, it has been head coach Nathan Blackwood leading the program, and he has a 735-335 record in that time. 

SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
- St. Mary's enters the contest 8-9 overall and 7-9 in the LSC. The Rattlers have not played since Feb. 24-26, taking their conference bye week, after splitting the series against Oklahoma Christian.
- A two-way player for the Rattlers, Clay Bradford has been solid on the mound and at the plate for St. Mary's. His .444 batting average ranks sixth in the conference, while his five home runs are ninth in the LSC. As a pitcher, Bradford leads St. Mary's with a 3.43 ERA and is 2-1 this season.
- John Curtis has a 4.05 ERA and a 1-0 record this season for the Snakes. His 4.20 strikeout-to-walk ratio is ninth in the LSC.
- As a team, St. Mary's ranks sixth in the conference with 21 stolen bases. Jake Mares leads the squad with seven so far this year.
- Chris Ermis enters his second season as the head coach for Rattler Baseball in 2022 after spending the previous 25 years on staff as an assistant or associate head coach. In his tenure, Ermis has seen his pitching staff name nine All-American pitchers, one National Pitcher of the Year, 13 All-Region pitchers and eight Heartland Conference Pitchers of the Year.

THE SERIES WITH THE RATTLERS
LCU leads the series 27-24 all-time, having won the series 3-1 last season, and having won four of the last five meetings. In their last meeting on Feb. 20, 2022, LCU scored five runs in the final two innings to steal a 12-11 win from the Rattlers. The Chaps are just 8-14 in San Antonio against the Snakes, having lost four in a row at Dickson Stadium, their last win coming on March 1, 2019.

UP NEXT
Lubbock Christian will take eight days off from games, thanks to the conference's mandated bye week. The Chaparrals return to action on Monday, Mar. 20, against University of the Southwest. First pitch from Hays Field is set for 6:00 PM. Fans can purchase tickets at lcuchaps.com