Lubbock Christian (24-18, 22-18 LSC) at
West Texas A&M (28-14, 26-14 LSC)
April 20-22 – Hays Field – Lubbock, Texas
 
WARMING UP
It seems like Opening Day was just yesterday, but the home schedule for the Lubbock Christian University baseball team wraps up this weekend with a four-game series against rival West Texas A&M. It's an important matchup for the Chaps, who currently sit in fifth in the Lone Star Conference standings, four games back of the Buffs. LCU and WT are two of the top offensive teams in the league, with 760 total bases for the Chaps and 703 for the Buffs, setting things up for what could be a high-scoring weekend at Hays Field.
 
FIRST PITCH

• Lubbock Christian is tied for the national lead in complete games from their pitching staff with nine this season
• West Texas A&M is coming off a series split at home against St. Mary's, including a 10-inning loss in a scheduled seven-inning game on April 15
• Chap shortstop Carson Ogilvie leads the conference and ranks No. 7 nationally with 60 runs scored
• LCU outfielder Eduardo Acosta ranks second in the league with a .423 batting average, and he is reaching base at a .511 clip
• The Buffs have stolen the fewest bases in the LSC this season, with just 18 bags on only 23 attempts

 
RIVALRY ON THE RANGE
The LCU/WT matchup this weekend will continue the Rivalry on the Range series between the two schools. Announced on August 6, 2019, the Rivalry on the Range is a year-long competition including 15 sports in which the two schools will compete against one another. The rivalry series scoring components includes head-to-head battles in men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and softball, with additional points available in postseason play. The Lady Chap softball team will also be participating in the rivalry battle this weekend.
 
POWER SURGE
The Chaps head into the weekend firing on all cylinders offensively. They lead the conference and rank No. 18 nationally with 57 home runs, and they are second in the league with a .549 slugging percentage. Six different LCU players have left the yard at least five times, led by Nate Van Maanen and Chris Shull with 11 apiece. There are also six players who have reached the double-digit mark in doubles, with Ogilvie leading the way with 18. That number is second in the LSC and 13^th in NCAA Division II. He also leads the conference in triples with six.
 
RIGHT ON THE MARK(WARDT)
The performance didn't net him LSC Pitcher of the week thanks to StMU's John Curtis tossing a 10-inning complete game, but LCU left-hander Ryan Markwardt was dominant last week against No. 4 St. Edward's. He carried a no-hitter through six innings against the Hilltoppers before finally surrendering a base knock in the bottom of the seventh. It would be the only hit he allowed from SEU in a 10-1 LCU win. The Itasca, Texas struck out five and finished the game on 91 pitches, notching his third-straight complete game and lowering his ERA to a team-leading 4.68.
 
SENIOR DAY
With this being the last home series of the 2023 season, Lubbock Christian will be honoring a host of seniors before Sunday's game. The six players who will be recognized are Acosta, Caden Hensley, Merritt McPherson, Sam Shank, Koi Carrillo and Parker Rumsey. The Chaps will also recognize student coach Brandon Coronado and student trainer Jodi Bullock.
 
FRIENDLY CONFINES
This weekend will mark the final four games of the season, where the Chaps boast a 13-9 record. Originally dedicated on April 29, 1978 as Chaparral Stadium, the complex was renamed Hays Field in 1999 to honor the L.D., Pearl, Larry, and Daren Hays families for their dedication and commitment to the ideals and values of Lubbock Christian University. The playing dimensions of Hays Field measure 340 feet down the lines, 380 feet to the power alleys, and 400 feet to straight away center. The program is 1,150-354 in home games all-time.
 
LET IT FLY
With the elevation of Lubbock (3,202 feet) up on the Llano Estacado and the way the wind blows on many spring days, Hays Field is a great place for hitting. Despite playing only two more home games than road game to this point in the season, the Chaps have hit seven more home runs at the friendly confines. The team bats 75 points better at home (.367 vs. .292) and the slugging percentage is a whopping 132 points higher (.613 vs. .481). Acosta sees the most drastic split individually, with a .519 home batting average and a .320 average on the road.
 
STREAKS AND MULTIS
Brevin McCool leads the team with a reached bas streak of 15 straight games, dating all the way back to the Angelo State series. Hayden Blair currently boasts the longest hitting streak of any Chap, with base knocks in seven straight games. Ogilvie still leads the team in multi-hit games with 21 now, although he is not one of the four Chaps with a five-hit game this year. Shull is the team leader in multi-RBI games with 14, although Van Maanen and Jarred Gibson are right behind with 13 apiece.
 
A DEEPER LOOK
For all you baseball nerds out there, this week we're going to look at Runs Created. Created by the legendary Bill James in the 1970s, the Runs Created formula at its most basic, with as few variables factored in as possible is TB x (H + BB) / (AB + BB). LCU's team-leader in this stat is Ogilvie with 57.26 runs created, followed closely by Acosta with 56.06. Acosta has actually played slightly less than Ogilvie though, and leads the team in runs created per nine innings at 16.01. This means that if LCU were able to trot out a team of nine Eduardo Acosta's, that team would average over 16 runs per game. Shull is the only other Chap with more than 50 runs created already this season.
 
SCOUTING THE BUFFS

• West Texas A&M ranks third in the conference in team ERA with a mark of 6.22. They have combined to strike out 328 batters and opponents are hitting .305 against them
• The Buffs are second in the league in doubles with 99 and are slugging .519 as a team
• WT's Adam Becker is the LSC leader in batting average at .448 and he has also clubbed 13 home runs this season
• West Texas A&M has lost two series so far this season, dropping three games to Texas A&M-Kingsville the second week of the year and losing all four to UT Tyler
• Head Coach Matt Vanderburg is in his 15^th season leading the WT program

 
THE SERIES WITH THE BUFFS
Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M first began meeting on the baseball diamond all the way back in 1971. They met four times that season and three times in 1972 with LCU taking a 4-3 series lead before the Buffs disbanded their baseball program. West Texas A&M re-started the program in 1994, and the teams have been playing consistently since then. The Chaps lead the all-time series 47-24. Since 2015, there have been 17 meetings, with WT holding a slight edge at 9-8.