AUSTIN, Texas (April 15, 2023) – Lubbock Christian beat No. 4 St. Edward's again on Saturday, winning the top half of the day's doubleheader 10-1 behind the strong pitching of Ryan Markwardt, but fell in the second game and will need a win on Sunday to take the series.
 
With the split, the Chaps are now 24-17 overall and 22-17 in Lone Star Conference play.
 
GAME ONE
Despite three LCU home runs from three different players and a double-digit run total, the story of the noon game was not the offense. That's because entering the bottom of the seventh and final game, the Chaparral starting pitcher had still not give up a hit.
 
Markwardt ended up giving up a leadoff double to start the frame, falling just three outs short of joining the likes of Mark Blau, Gary Stephenson, Gary Poynter and the other 11 LCU players who have tossed no-hitters. A groundout and a wild pitch even took the shutout off the table for Markwardt before he got another groundout and a strikeout to end the game.
 
Despite losing the no-no, the LCU lefty still notched his third complete game of the year and his fift win. He now leads the team with a 4.68 ERA in 59.2 innings of work.
 
Nearly all of Markwardt's run support came in the form of the long ball. After clubbing five homers Friday and moving into the league lead, LCU hit three more in the win. Ryan Ball got the Chaps on the board first with a homer in his second-straight game. This one was of the three-run variety, with Jarred Gibson and Chris Shull on base.
 
Gibson took his turn leaving the yard in the third, driving in himself and Van Maanen. Then in the fourth Eduardo Acosta hit a three-run shot to score himself, Carson Ogilvie and Caden Hensley.
 
Acosta drove in the final two Chap runs of the game with a two-RBI single in the top of the seventh.
 
GAME TWO
It looked like things might continue the same way in the second game of the day, as the Chaps took a two-run lead in the fourth on an Acosta home run, but a fifth-straight win was not to be.
 
Shull, starting on the mound for the second-straight week, put up zeroes through his first three innings of work, but the Hilltoppers got to him in the fourth. SEU plated four runs in the frame, taking their first lead of the weekend.
 
LCU only had two baserunners from that point on, getting only a walk from Hensley and a single from Hayden Blair as Hilltopper starter Luke Short kept his perfect 9-0 record in tact.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
56 | With four more home runs on the day, LCU held onto the conference lead with 56 total. They now have six different players with at least five
2 | St. Edward's has only lost two games to two other teams this season. They split with West Texas A&M in Austin and lost two of three (one weather cancellation) against Eastern New Mexico in Portales. They have not yet lost a four-game series
450 | Lubbock Christian's 450 total hits this season are the second-most in the LSC
 
NEXT UP
The series finale will start at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Lucian-Hamilton Field.