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23_SB_Gameday_45_46

Lady Chaps Cruise To The Concho Valley To Open LSC Series

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

LCU Looks For Success In a Location They Have Been Winless

SAN ANGELO, Texas (April 15, 2023) – An important Lone Star Conference series gets underway Saturday at Mayer Field, as No.10 Lubbock Christian University faces Angelo State in a doubleheader scheduled for a 4 p.m. first pitch.
 
LONE STAR CONFERENCE SOFTBALL
OPPONENT LOCATION DAY TIME (CT) WATCH STATS
Angelo St. San Angelo, Texas Sat., Apr. 15 4 p.m. Video Stats
Angelo St. San Angelo, Texas Sat., Apr. 15 6:30 p.m. Video Stats
Angelo St. San Angelo, Texas Sun., Apr. 16 1 p.m. Video Stats
WEATHER
 
LCU and ASU Series Snapshot
  • Angelo State is 9-3 all-time against LCU, but the Lady Chaps have won the prior two meetings.
  • Last season, the two teams split the regular season finale in Lubbock, but they met at the NCAA South Central Regional in Tyler, Texas, where LCU opened the tournament with a 6-5 win in 13 innings.
  • Angelo State was nationally ranked in 10 of the prior 11 meetings, with the lone meeting unranked resulting in an LCU win: 5-1 on Feb. 12, 2016 in Canyon, Texas. Angelo State is unranked heading into this weekend's series.
  • LCU is 0-4 all-time in San Angelo, with their last games played their resulting in a 7-3 and 4-2 loss on May 2, 2021.
  • Tiarra Delrosario is 9-for-15 (.600) in her career against ASU.
  • Kasey Flores (5-for-10) is hitting .500 all-time against ASU. Flores has two home runs and five RBI against ASU in her career.
  • Skylar Herrera has seven hits in five career games against the Belles.
  • Maxine Valdez has a 1-0 career mark in three career appearances against ASU and holds 15 strikeouts in 14.1 innings. ASU is hitting .218 against her in her career.
 
How is the Team Doing?
  • LCU is 34-10 this season and coming off a home series in which LCU took two of three LSC contests against Cameron (placed their LSC record to 24-9).
  • This season's 34-10 record includes a 13-game, 10-game and six-game win streak.
  • The Lady Chaps are hitting .327 as a team (leads the conference and 30th nationally), with 47 home runs (15th nationally) in 44 games. LCU averages 6.2 runs a contest (third in LSC and 43rd  nationally).
  • In the circle, LCU has an ERA of 1.68 (14th nationally and leads the LSC). Opponents are hitting .171 against LCU this season (leads the LSC). The staff has a WHIP of 0.90 (leads LSC and fourth nationally) and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.53 (leads the LSC and 20th nationally). LCU has five no-hitters this season for a second consecutive season.
  • LCU ranks third in the nation in doubles (81) and is 14th in doubles per game (1.8).
  • The Lady Chaps have batted in 263 innings this season. They have scored at least one run in 114 of them (43.3% of the innings).
  • Defensively, LCU ranks 29th nationally with a 97.1% fielding percentage. They are third in the LSC with 0.36 double plays turned per game.
 
Who is Doing What?
  • Pitcher Maxine Valdez is 14-2 this season with a 1.51 ERA in 88.0 innings pitched (also has two saves, which is tied for 39th nationally). She ranks fourth nationally in WHIP (0.74, leads LSC) and in hits allowed per seven innings (3.58, leads the LSC), 22nd nationally averaging 8.8 strikeouts per seven innings and 62nd in strikeouts (111, sixth 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 and third on April 12, which was her fifth 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 33-11 in her career.
  • Taylor Franco is 13-7 with a 1.35 ERA (second in the conference) and ranks 10th nationally with 17 complete games (leads LSC). She is tied for 13th nationally in shutouts (6, which is tied with Valdez), 20th in hits allowed per seven innings (4.34), 20th in WHIP (0.90) and 19th in strikeouts (143). 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 on the Tucci/NFCA Player/Pitcher of the Year Watchlist.
    • Franco ranks third actively in NCAA Div. II career shutouts (28), which is 10th actively at all NCAA levels
    • Fourth actively in NCAA Div. II career innings pitched (657.0), which is 15th actively at all NCAA levels
    • Fifth actively in NCAA Div. II career complete games (67), which is 12th actively at all NCAA levels
    • 10th actively in NCAA Div. II career saves (8)
    • 12th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts (562)
    • 29th actively in NCAA Div. II career strikeouts-per-seven innings (5.9)
    • Ranks 29th actively in NCAA Div. II career marks in ERA (1.96)
  • New Mexico State transfer Hope Banales is hitting .387 (seventh in the LSC) at the plate with a team-leading 16 doubles, which leads the LSC and is seventh nationally. Banales, who has one LSC Hitter of the Week honor under her belt, has 48 hits to rank tied for eighth in the LSC (tied with Tiarra Delrosario).
  • Kasey Flores leads the team in home runs (17, tied for fourth nationally and co-leads the LSC), RBI (55, third nationally and leads the LSC), total bases (112, seventh nationally and third in the LSC),slugging (0.911, which is ninth nationally) and OPS at 1.411. 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 44 games, she has 19 multi-RBI games. She is on the Tucci/NFCA Player/Pitcher of the Year Watchlist.
    • In her LCU career, Flores has the 10th-best slugging mark in active-career NCAA Div.II statistics, with a career slugging of .819.
    • She has 57 career home runs, which actively ranks tied for 12th among all NCAA levels.
  • LCU has a 71-37 advantage this season in stolen bases. Berkeley Quinn leads LCU with 21 stolen bases (fifth in the LSC) and Skylar Herrera has 19 (seventh in the LSC) to place a pair of Lady Chaps in the top-10 in the conference in thefts. LCU has 71 swipes and averages 1.6 in steals per game (fifth in LSC).
    • Herrera has 71 career stolen bases, which ranks 23rd for active career leaders in NCAA Div. II
  • The Lady Chaps have 47 home runs this season (third in LSC) and 10 different Lady Chaps have round-trippers this season.
  • Skyler Herrera ranks tied for 11th in the LSC in runs scored with 33.
    • Actively ranks 29th in NCAA Div.II in career runs (141)
    • 29th in total bases (320)
    • 40th in RBI (128)
    • 44th in home runs (28)
 
Lone Star Conference Breakdown
  • This season is LCU's fourth season in the LSC.
  • LCU is 69-32 all-time in LSC play.
  • The Lady Chaps went 23-7 last season in conference.
  • LCU is 24-9 in conference play, sitting in third place in the LSC standings.
    • The 24 conference wins marks the most in a single season since moving to NCAA and the most since a 29-win 2010 season.
    • LCU is hitting .298 in conference, with 37 home runs (allowed 7).
    • The pitching staff has a 1.90 ERA in LSC play, with 212 strikeouts in 214.0 innings and holding opponents to a .180 batting average.
    • Hope Banales leads LCU in conference hitting .366.
    • Kasey Flores leads LCU in home runs (13) and RBI (40) in conference play.
    • Taylor Franco has a 1.62 ERA and is 10-6 with 108 strikeouts in 117.0 innings. She is averaging an allowance of 4.8 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.10 after spending the prior five weeks at No.11. They have been ranked ranging No.11 - 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 Tuesday with a softball record of 520-167.
  • 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  
Road Review
  • LCU is 10-5 this season in road contests.
  • The Lady Chaps are hitting .294 (18 home runs) in road tilts, and contributing a 1.86 ERA in the circle (opponents hitting .183).
  • Hope Banales leads LCU with a .370 average in road games. Banales and Tiarra Delrosario each have 17 hits on the road.
  • LCU has 18 home runs on the road and hit by nine different individuals.
  • Kasey Flores leads LCU with five homers and 15 RBI in road contests.
  • Maxine Valdez is 4-1 with a save and has 40 strikeouts (eight walks) in 34.0 innings in road play. Opponents are hitting .177 against her.
 
 In Summary
  • LCU has a 42-19 scoring advantage in the first inning and a 52-9 advantage in the fourth inning, with their highest offensive output coming in the second inning, with a 59-18 scoring advantage. LCU is 16-1 when leading after the first inning and 28-1 when scoring first.
  • The Lady Chaps are 30-1 when leading after four innings.
  • LCU is 26-3 this season when they hit at least one home run in a game.
  • The Lady Chaps are 17-2 when errorless. They are 25-7 when their opponents commit at least one error.

Looking at ASU
  • The Belles went 39-12 last season, finishing tied for fourth the LSC with a 22-8 conference mark. They qualified for the NCAA South Central Regional in Tyler, Texas, where they went 1-2. They are 28-19 this season and are seventh in the LSC with a 20-16 conference record.
  • ASU is hitting .287 this season and have 51 home runs on the season (51-24 advantage in home runs over their opponents). They have a staff ERA of 4.34 and opponents are hitting .233 against them.
  • Angelo State is 15-8 at home this season. They have won their last two home games.  
  • ASU is preseason picked to finish second in the LSC in the LSC Preseason Poll.
  • The Belles lead the conference and rank eight nationally in stolen bases (121), with a pace of 2.57 per game (15th nationally). Ashlyn Lerma leads the nation with 57 swipes this season.
  • Paxton Scheurer (15) and Lindsey Evans (12) have combined for 27 home runs and they have ASU ranked 10th nationally with 51 home runs.
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